


Original Empath

by neichan



Category: Original Work
Genre: Alternate Universe, First Time
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2005-11-02
Updated: 2005-11-02
Packaged: 2019-02-05 16:29:15
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 23,631
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12798189
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/neichan/pseuds/neichan
Summary: This is the third re-working of and original fic I wrote that has been adapted to the Sentinel story EMPATHS that I posted to WWOMB. Originally I used "Pysche's and Warrior/Companions", then in the second re-write I used "Empaths and Guardians" exclusively. Finally, after reading fanfic in the Sentinel universe, I added the terminology of sentinels and guides, because the concepts were better, more detailed than the ones I had developed, but kept all original characters. Does that still qualify as Original fic? I never saved the original version, or the second writing: (Empath and Guardian written in the early and mid 1990's on a computer that would now be considered a museum piece practically, it was a glorified word processor, nothing more), but I did manage to find this version this year and re-read it, then re-worked it into Empaths. So it is sort of original and sort of Sentinel. And again...it is in draft form. Not beta'd. I will continue to edit it on and off, and I hope you who asked for this to be posted will find the patience to bear with me. If having rough fiction, not finished stuff, bothers you, please, please don't read this!Thank you!





	1. Part 1

**Author's Note:**

> Note from Haven, the archivist: This story was originally archived at [Fandom Haven Story Archive (FHSA)](http://fanlore.org/wiki/Fandom_Haven_Story_Archive), was scheduled to shut down at the end of 2016. To preserve the archive, I began working with the OTW to transfer the stories to the AO3 as an Open Doors-approved project in November 2017. If you are this creator and the work hasn't transferred to your AO3 account, please contact me using the e-mail address on [Fandom Haven Story Archive collection profile](http://archiveofourown.org/collections/fhsa/profile).

Empath and Guardian

 

 

"Andoorian Empaths are different from all other known empathic races. All Andoorian Empaths are male, for starters, a phenomenon that occurs in no other known races. Other races have an about sixty-forty gender distribution of Empaths, or significantly more female Empaths than male. And if you ask me why all Andoorian Empaths are male…I’ll have to tell you I have no idea. Nor does anyone else. Unless they are concealing research no one else has access to, which I know is not impossible…. Still, no one has put out a convincing explanation." I smiled under my heavy veil at the laugh that got from the men listening to the lecture. Then I took a minute to organize my thoughts. This was the part I found most fascinating, but most difficult to interest non-scientists in. Genetics.

 

"The Genetic studies have all shown that Empathy is X-linked. Unlike Sentinel genetics, Empathy is very well localized to one area on the X chromosome. That would mean females have a higher likelihood of being Guides. Females have two X chromosomes, males only one, so the chances are almost double for females. Obviously, in light of the Andoorians, that conclusion needs to be re-examined. Unless they have an independent marker for empathy unrelated to the X-linked one responsible in Commonwealth Guides." I for one wanted to know why nature had turned the known genetic pattern on its head, and how it had happened.

 

"Now when we look at Sentinels, well, it is far more complicated. There are X-linked components of the Sentinel genetic profile, but there are also Y-linked characteristics. In fact Commonwealth Guardians are a sub-type of Sentinels with a Y-linked trait you all know as "Dotted Y". The dotted-Y is named after the very odd appearance of the Y chromosome in most Guardian level Sentinels. What does it do? No one knows. There are observations that the specialized Y seems to activate and integrate the instincts associated with being a Sentinel. In other words, to bring out instinctive responses in the Sentinels who have it. Do Sentinels who don’t have the Dotted Y exhibit instinctive responses? Yes, they do. Are they as strong? Not usually, but sometimes, yes. The answers are anything but clear." I shrugged. I had no opinion on that score. Nothing I’d read or analyzed had seemed to provide adequate answers.

 

"Which responses are enhanced? A few are positively known to be augmented by the dotted-Y, but I am sure there are far more traits we aren’t yet aware of. Known traits include: Protective-ness, possessiveness, aggression, the instinct for physical proximity, and physical characteristics such as an increase in stature of up to six inches in height and at least twenty pounds of lean muscle mass difference noted consistently among siblings, di-zygotic or fraternal twins, and in racial groups. Also a subtle alteration in muscle insertion and origin attachments that increase the available power from the muscles that are affected. Sentinels are significantly stronger than others of similar size and muscle mass. There is no point in analyzing data from mono-zygotic Sentinel twins, when it comes to Sentinel genetics, all mono-zygotic twins in which one is a Sentinel, both are Sentinels." And the physical part of the equation could readily been seen simply by looking around the room I was standing in. It was filled with giants. I was the size of a child compared to even the smallest of these men.

 

"You may want to laugh at physical proximity being included in characteristics displayed by Guardians, many Guardian Sentinels are not consciously aware they exhibit the behavior, or the degree to which they do, until it is pointed out to them, and sometimes not even then. If you observe the difference between a standard Sentinel and a Guardian in relation to a Guide, you would immediately see the difference. A Guardian Sentinel is nearly constantly circling around his Guide, when he is not plastered to his Guide’s side. Almost all movement around the Guide is in an arc, the culmination of which returns the Guardian to the proximity of the Guide. Guardian level Sentinels touch their Guides more than ten times more frequently than standard Sentinels. And we all know what octopuses they are!" Again a tittering of laughter, and many more smirks.

 

Physical proximity was an ideal and simple way of rating a Sentinel. Not exact, but putting aside cultural differences, it was remarkably accurate. I knew this for a fact, It was my research that had confirmed it, I spent two months observing Guardian level Sentinels as payment for my last lecture here. The discovery was immediate, the difference was absolutely glaring. I wondered how it had been missed in the past. Did no one actually ask themselves what they were seeing? I had no need of the copious notes scrolling across the screen of my PADD to rattle off the stats. But, I doubted it would make any difference to these men. They accepted what I said to be true, I saw it in their expressions. They’d seen it themselves, and now that I’d pointed it out, they agreed. There was something unusual about the Sentinels in this room. I looked out over them again. I couldn’t put my finger on it yet, but I would.

 

I was dressed in one of the traditional long, concealing robes favored by the more conservative Sentinels and Sentinel families. The theory behind the garments was, of course, that if I wasn’t seen, I wouldn’t be desired "inappropriately". My Owner wouldn’t be inundated with requests for my use and sale. I also wore a veil and a head scarf so thick that none of the Guardian level Sentinels could see the color of my hair or the shape of my features through it. I had had other experiences in the past that I didn’t want to repeat, experiences connected with not wearing the veil had left me with very negative results in the past. It hardly mattered that the results were not intentional, not on my part at least. I lived with the reminders every day. I was the one who had paid for attracting unwanted attention.

 

I also went barefoot indoors, resorting to footwear only when I was outside, and then only when there was no one available to carry me, which was rare. My Owner had been adamant on this, Guides did not wear shoes in her household. A Guide who wore shoes was a wanton thing, out of control. Much of the time when I went out, she had had me carried, denying me shoes outside as well. The symbolism of course was related to the distant culture of Earth many centuries past. The analogy of women being kept "barefoot and pregnant" was too close to be ignored. While I couldn’t get pregnant, I could be kept barefoot, and thus be reminded of my servitude, of being Owned, and of being a belonging. And naturally being barefoot didn’t allow me to run very well over rough ground. I could not escape. All things that served my Owner well.

 

I was short as it was, only 5’6", and being barefoot added nothing to my stature. The highest heels I had ever been in were 4", and that would have raised me to a mere 5’10", not nearly enough to make an impression on these many Sentinels, who all were close to 6’6" or above. Next to them I was the size of a teen-aged child. But, one glaring difference between them and most of the other Sentinels I had dealt with, these men respected me. They listened to me, they evaluated my statements without dismissing them simply because I was a Guide. That was worth a hell of a lot to me. And it made me wonder how that had come to pass. What had happened to convince Guardians that an Empath was worth listening to?

 

When I came of age, I was adopted by one of the most conservative of the ancient Sentinel families. The fact I was permitted to engage in academic studies at all was astounding, my Owner was considered radical by her family for the amount of freedom she allowed me, and that I held several degrees was nothing short of miraculous. I wore full, traditional garb, only lacking the robe-hoops, metal hoops that fit under Guide clothing, that would create a barrier around a Guide of at least a meter, preventing accidental touching, and I tried to behave acceptably so as not to lose the privilege of being out and about with an escort/bodyguard.

 

When I’d gone out on the required field trips to dig amid the dusty ruins, I’d done it in full garb, my hands hidden in the folds of my sleeves, only the tip of my trowel peeking out as I scraped the earth, accompanied by a low level Sentinel as well as bodyguards, hired by my Owner. The Sentinel/Companion had carried me when necessary, watched over me, slept next to me, and along with the half dozen bodyguards, protected me. My Owner had forbidden me any shoes on that excursion. I had not required a deeper Bond, thank the Ghods. The Sentinel/Companion’s icy professionalism was frightening, and I couldn’t imagine asking him to get undressed and Bond with me. Just the cool, impersonal touch of his hands when we surface Bonded sent chills through me.

 

Even my hands were covered in gloves today, only the palms of my hands bare. I wasn’t feeling as secure as I should. I felt I could not risk accidentally surface Bonding with any more of these men. I felt them all around me, tempting me into a wanting, a needing of deeper Bonding than I’d be allowed. There was a level of disquiet, of anticipation that I was not imagining. Heavy gold bands circled my wrists, ankles, waist and neck hidden under my clothing. My neck had never been bare of the high collar since the day I’d been Bonded to my Owner, the Lady Jana Kree. My hair was completely hidden in the snood of the headscarf, it’s mass was considerable, but that was the only thing that could be discerned.

 

If my Sentinel had been here, she would have been seated near me, possessive as always, and I might have been attached to her chair or her wrist with a fine chain leash, even while I lectured. Making it very apparent who Owned me. I knew she would have risen to a new level of nervousness just seeing so many other Sentinels around me. Add to that the fact they were Guardians…. I was sincerely grateful she was not here. I think she knew how she’d react, and she had never accompanied me on anything but the most limited of travels, rather than place herself on one of the more stressful situations, she hired others to take me where I went.

 

"Andoorians have no standard Guides, all their Guides are Empaths. That is another characteristic not noted in other known empathic races in the Commonwealth. In other races it would be usual to have approximately five percent or less, usually significantly less, of the Guides of Empath level. Providentially, it seems that if you measure the number of Empath level Guides in a given society, it will correlate fairly closely with the number of Guardian level Sentinels. These statistics have largely been ignored when it comes down to the Matching of Guides and Sentinels. Money correlates far more reliably with who is assigned which Guide. I argue we are toying with the natural order of things by not recognizing that Nature means for Empaths to Bond with Guardians." I heard the low murmur that ran through the assembled men. Oh, yes, they agreed with me wholeheartedly on this point. I picked that up on the first day I’d been here. But there was more than just that I wanted to impress upon them. I hoped I would have the opportunity before I had to leave.

 

"The Common scale is not sensitive enough to accurately measure and rate Empaths, it is better suited to measure standard Guides and standard Sentinels, not Empaths or Guardians. The Andoorians measure ten and above on the Ferrini scale as adolescents and adults. No one has been permitted to assess and measure the children. Until they reach puberty all children in the Andoorian culture are cared for in the all-male Harems. At puberty the female children leave the Harems, while the males remain whether or not they are Empaths or Mundane. The training of male and female is absolutely separate." I hesitated, trying to find a way to say what I was going to need to say without angering my Lady Owner if she should ever accidentally hear of this. She and I disagreed on most of the views the Commonwealth held in regard to Guides. I made it a point not to speak of it in her hearing, it was important she not be forced to confront me on it. I didn’t want her to feel forced to act. I sighed. Perhaps it would not reach her ears. I prayed it did not.

 

"Within most Commonwealth societies it has become an accepted and destructive practice to match Guide and Sentinel with little regard to the balance between the two. External characteristics are used to select Guides. As I alluded earlier, money makes the choices, not common sense or mutual need. This is highly destructive to the potential of the Guide especially. The custom is to Match with an eye to preserving the maximal function of the Sentinel and disregard the limits placed on the Guide. Money changes hands in the form of bribes, erroneously termed "fees", in the majority of Matching cases. It is well known, and widely ignored. The very lawmakers who should be monitoring the situation have used the same technique to acquire their own Guides."

 

"The Commonwealth Caste System allows this to continue by treating Guides as if they are livestock. Guides are classified both as Human stock and as cattle in the legal language of the Commonwealth. Essentially you are now being lectured to and asking questions of a "cow"." Another uncomfortable rumble moved through the room. The best jokes were always rooted firmly in reality. "All of you in this room know this. The Sentinels are the top of the Castes, then the Mundanes, then the Guides. After diagnosis Guides become "Incompetent to make life decisions." I made quotations marks with my fingers.

 

"There is a stamp that is placed on every Guide’s record to that effect. Regardless of the functional capacity of the individual Guide. It is not removed, not even when the Guide functions competently in any number of professions. I have two Doctorates. But I am not competent to decide I need to make an appointment to see a doctor. Who by the way is licensed by the Board of Veterinary Medicine. My physiology is basically the same as yours, but I am treated by a Vet, you by a physician. I am not competent to have my own credit account, not even if I have earned the credits. All my earnings are sent to my Owner. My Sentinel or someone acting with her blessing makes my appointment, pays for my needs, decides how to manage my net worth. I have earned 22 million Common credits, yet I am not allowed to spend one without the permission of my Owner or her representative." I shrugged at the low wave of speech that rippled through the room. I knew the revelation of my net worth always stunned those who found out about it. I was proud of it. I’d earned every last dime on my own. Now, still a very young man, I was worth more than many of the wealthiest men in the Commonwealth. All managed in trust for me.

 

"There is no equity or attempt to match the Rankings when placing a given Guide with a Sentinel. And many Guides are selected for reasons of physical attraction rather than Matching Rank. My Owner found me pleasing to the eye, and we were Matched without ever evaluating our Bonding compatibility. These limits are often crippling. I am bonded to a Sentinel who is several levels below me on both the Common and the Ferrini scales. Adding to this inequality is the fact she has several Basic Guides in addition to myself, so I spend less time with her than is optimal for my function. She functions well, and in fact has gained in Ranking since we were Bonded. I have not. In order for me to tolerate the lack of contact I have been on suppressants for ten years, since I was twelve years old. That, even though no studies, not even the ones run by the suppressant companies, support the use of suppressants for more than five years. My doctor has no plans to remove me from those medications. If she did I would experience withdrawal from my Sentinel due to the disparity between our Rankings."

 

"A Basic Guide is one that does not quite reach the level of a standard Guide on the Common scale, level 2 or less, and has no Ranking on the Ferrini. A standard Guide Ranks 2 to seven on the Common scale, an Empath from 8 to 10. According to offworlder studies my potential was to reach Ferrini 22. My Bonding to a lesser Sentinel prevented that from happening. I am a Ferrini 20, and likely will lose that level in a decade or so because my Sentinel’s system does not fully utilize mine. My Ranking will continue to erode. Each year a little more, if the normal pattern of deterioration is applicable in my case." I drew in a shaky breath trying to stop the shivering anger and undeniable fear that sometimes broke through my careful control. I forced myself to proceed with the lecture. I had nearly been the first Ferrini 22 in over a century. But money and influence had destroyed any possibility of that, of me knowing and reaching the full potential I was supposed to attain. The rules of the Caste system had done far more damage than anyone imagined to the Guides.

 

The room was deathly quiet. I was speaking to a room full of Unbonded Guardian level Sentinels. I was the only Guide here, and I was telling them to disregard the teachings that had become the cornerstone of their curriculum, of their belief system, that the Sentinel’s good was the Guide’s good. I was telling them they were destroying the Guides, those they were driven instinctively to protect, by not considering the needs of the Guide as equal to the needs of the Sentinel. The room was utterly silent. I smiled a bitter smile under my veil. Yeah, I hoped they were just a little uncomfortable right now. Maybe they would change just a bit, do some Guide somewhere good.

 

Every eye was on me, every ear tuned into my heart beat, I had their undivided attention. Each of them could scent my distress, my arousal, excitement, and my confusion. A million times I told myself not to hope, but each time I found I did, I was unable to stop myself, to silence the prayers. They could also sense I believed the truth of what I was saying. That coupled with the stature I held in academic circles should convince most of them I was right in this matter. Or given my young age, they would dismiss me as a passionate child crusading for things I didn’t fully understand. That was also a possibility. I wanted them to believe, I wanted it very badly.

 

"They, the Andoorian Empaths, are raised in a Matriarchal society, wherein all males are property of some female and are completely subservient to her and to other females they come in contact with. Most operate in families, where the Empaths are Owned primarily by one female Guardian, and secondarily by her family. The females are not all Sentinels, but all the Andoorian Sentinels are female. And all the Sentinels on Andoor are Guardian level, without exception. Andoorian males, Guides or mundane, are less likely to be educated, and when they are educated it is in order to better serve their female Owners." No so much different than what other Commonwealth Guides faced.

 

"As to be expected in such a society where the one gender, in this case the females, compete for the other gender, the males, the males are physically smaller than the women. This is a function, very simply, of the fact that if you win, you reproduce. If you are bigger and badder than your competition, you increase the probability you will win in a physical confrontation and control the breeding rights. At least among the female population. Being simply male on Andoor, you will have the chance to reproduce, because you and your reproductive ability are a valuable commodities. The usual limitation of the number of children being partly controlled by the long gestation periods of the infant in the female body doesn’t apply. The Andoorian males are capable of carrying the fetus until birth in pouches. And it is very well documented the females insist on it. Females on Andoor, given the choice, won’t carry their children to term. It is strongly preferred for the males to do that."

 

A stir rippled through the room, one that seemed strangely unsettled. There were a few species that had that ability in the Commonwealth. With the often discordant struggle between the women and the men in power, every new race with a male gestational ability incited interest. Men bearing children interested women. It meant women could opt out of that duty if they wanted. I, however, shuddered, thank ghod my Owner hadn’t found a way to have me bear her children, she had to breed me to others to pass my genes on, because she would never stoop to being impregnated by an animal, a Guide. Pregnancy and delivery was no piece of cake, and I was glad I wouldn’t be taking part in any such thing. The Andoorian males were welcome to it with my blessing.

 

"The typical height for the females is just under seven feet tall, while the typical height of the Andoorian male is roughly six feet. Andoor does display the one characteristic that is universal to the Commonwealth, the Sentinels are measurably larger than the Mundane population. And they have a more advanced and durable hormonal system, especially the "fight or flight" hormones, the stress hormones." I admitted I was curious about the Andoorian lifestyle and history, it would be a blast to actually travel to Andoor and witness the culture in action. I also knew I would not be permitted to travel that far, a trip that would require months to make. My Sentinel would have no desire to travel with me, and if I traveled alone I would be going an a slow freighter, locked in a Guide cage. Guides did not travel unaccompanied on the faster passenger liners. I drew my attention back to the subject matter I was lecturing on. I missed the few times I’d been allowed in the field. Even being carried from place to place it had been quite an adventure.

 

"Another odd point, the Andoorian females are extremely competitive and aggressive, in sharp contrast to most other humanoid females, and they almost never sell their males, viewing them as valued possessions and symbolic of success, the males are inherited, part of a woman’s estate as it were. In sharp contrast, off of Andoor, it is one of the most lucrative of all businesses in the Commonwealth to train, raise and sell or distribute Guides. There are several companies who now breed Guides to emphasize desirable characteristics. Hair color, stature, body type, skin color, those kind of things can be ordered before the Guide is conceived. Right now the vogue is tall, dark skinned, with light hair and eyes. None of those attributes are ones I possess, thank the Ghods." That earned me a small laugh from the Sentinels. I could sense the peaking of interest, the automatic interest now in discovering how I looked. Whoops! That had definitely not been my intention.

 

"The Guide re-training facilities alone take in millions of credits per region per month." I looked from face to face. They were listening to me carefully. Some with an expression of wary disbelief, others with resignation, still others with almost anger. No doubt they all knew what I was telling them, but they probably had not asked themselves what it meant. I wanted them to think about it. I let my eyes fall to my PADD, but I couldn’t see any of the words flowing on it’s display. I wanted them to think hard about this. I just didn’t want them to feel I was challenging them. Sentinels were touchy about dominance issues. I took a breath to gather myself. I had to be so careful, if I alienated them, no good would come of them, I couldn’t change their attitudes if they rejected what I had to say just because I lost control and made them mad.

 

"It has been theorized that the very aggressiveness of the Andoorian females is the reason they are not Empathic, that the chemicals released in abundance during stress inhibits the development of Empathy traits. That they do not have the ‘quietness of mind’ to sense the emotions of others. And the fact the males are physically capable of carrying young after conception takes place in the female’s body, but that leaves one glaring unanswered question, why are the male Andoorian Empaths capable of warlike behavior and cold-start violence? Violence that is not precipitated by the need to protect the self or loved ones? The Andoorians seem to be full of contradictions. At least ten percent of the Empath males are trained as blooded warriors, a thing virtually unheard of among other empathic beings. And especially in male Empaths who carry their offspring inside their own bodies. I am not talking defensive fighting. I have seen vids of the battles, the males are real fighters, good ones, dangerous, lethal fighters comparable to any we have in the other Commonwealth societies." I had seen one plast of a gore spattered Andoorian male, sword upraised in his hand, and obviously, hugely gravid. I flashed that picture up on the screen now. It started a buzz of conversation. I continued on. Let them think about that.

 

"Interestingly the "Code of the Masters" that exists on Andoor is quite similar to the Common Law’s "Way of the Sentinel" in it’s strictures of Guide Ownership and Care. It is by no means exact, and if anything is harsher in it’s restriction of the Rights of the Guide. Andoorian Empaths have absolutely no legal rights independent of their Owners. They are Owned, and are handled like property, as if they are non-sentient at times. The Rights given to the Guides of the Commonwealth, while few, are important. Including the right to medical care at the Guide’s request to his or her Owner, and to be disciplined only with the consent of their Owners, or in accordance to their Owner’s instructions." It was something many had struggled to improve from behind the scenes, but we had to do it carefully so as not to anger any Sentinel Owners. It would have been fully within the Sentinels’ rights to isolate their Guides in the Harem if we displeased them by our stance, or drew undue attention to any of us. There were Sentinels and Mundanes who were sympathetic to the plight of Commonwealth Guides. They worked with us, took the heat, and didn’t face the punishment we might have if we were the ones speaking out. I wanted ideally to end my time here with these men sympathetic to our cause.

 

Reaching under my veil, I pushed the bangs of dark hair out of my soft, but alert, honey-amber eyes, looking around the room full of the Guardian Officers. The kohl black of my eyelashes were stark in my pale, ivory skinned face when reflected back to me from one of the many windows lining the walls of the room. I was very glad I was wearing a heavy veil and headscarf that concealed all of my face except my eyes and small part of my forehead. More than one hundred Guardians were in this room. The whisper of my silk robes floated through the air, even the smallest movements of my body causing them to eddy gracefully around my body, a thing noted by all the Guardians in the conference hall, their senses focused on me as I spoke. I was an Empath level Guide, and that was immensely seductive on multiple levels to these high ranking Sentinels. I had to take precautions that my shields were never lowered around them, not until I was in my protected suite of rooms.

 

Fortunately my shields were very strong, I had spent years perfecting them. I had as a child witnessed a bonding frenzy when a Guide inadvertently lowered her shields. She had been seriously injured by the attempt of half a dozen Unbonded Sentinels to claim her, and two of the Sentinels had been killed fighting over her. I had never forgotten the nightmare I saw that day. The Guide had been put down, it would have been too expensive to treat her injuries, and given the deaths of two Sentinels, the public outcry had demanded she be put to sleep.

 

I had in that moment realized the lack of control I over my own life. I had known in a tiny frightening way what it was to be a Guide in a universe run by Sentinels. The low human on the totem pole. I had begun to notice things. Like the classification my doctors fell under. Veterinarian Specialist in Guide Medicine. My doctor was an ‘animal doctor’. The orphanages for Guides were called Pounds, just like for stray animals. Guides weren’t euthanized, they were "put down". I finally looked at the leash I wore when I was walked around the Guide Pound. I saw it for what it was. I was an animal, more intelligent than a dog, or a cat, but still a pet. I was expected to obey, or be punished. I was trained, not educated. The difference was glaring to me. If I’d been a teenager and not a Guide of teen-aged years I might have openly rebelled. But even then I knew rebellion would earn me a lashing. I’d had several by then. Physical discipline. And I feared that. More than anything I hated to be whipped.

 

My name is Professor Khan Kim. I am perhaps the only Empath who ever lectured for a group of Guardians before. This was the fifth time for me, standing up in front of so many of these exceptional men, each was in reality "one in a million". While it excited me, it still gave me the willies. It was like having a cat lecture a pack of hungry wolves. These were men with incredibly heightened senses, and every one of those senses was directed at me. I was prey to their predator. At least that was the vision that came most easily to mind. I wished I could somehow get them to see that every Empath was also a one in a million miracle. I wanted them to know I was special, and that each and every Guide was special in his or her own right. Being a realist I knew I might not live long enough to see that happen. But along with others I could plant the seeds.

 

None of the men present was below the rank of Omega Commander. The Omegas had previously been known as Alphas, but when testing improved to the point that the category of Alpha could reliably be differentiated into two separate levels the Alphas became Alpha-Alphas and Alpha-Omegas. Of course that was unwieldy and the groups became Alpha and Omega.

 

All here were Guardians. All were capable of the Owning of empathic slaves, yet none wore the gold embroidery of the Bonded on their uniform sleeves. This had the feel of something more than Owners wanting some new exotic pets. This was military, with a capital M, I was sure of it. Nothing less would have been enough for my own admittedly possessive Owner to allow me to travel to Zedd and into the Guardian stronghold to brief these men, Guardian Sentinels, on what was known about Andoor. They told me every word spoken here was confidential, top secret, and that I could not ever share any of it, not even if I wrote my memoirs in a hundred years. That had been a joke, no Guide had ever written about their life, nor had a Guide’s life been written of for the masses. Who would want to read it?

 

I shivered. Being an Empath surrounded by so many Guardians wasn’t easy. If not for the Alpha Gray Commander assigned to me, I was sure I would have a lot of trouble, in fact I wasn’t sure I’d be able to handle it. They were all around me, pushing against my shields, hungry, seeking, attentive. And their hunger made me hungry. It was like being seduced by a skilled lover. How many Guardian level Sentinels did my traitorous body think I could accommodate? Not many. If my shields failed here they would overwhelm me, crush me, and I would die.

 

The trip to Zedd had been uncomfortable. As a Bonded Guide unaccompanied by my Owner I had been confined to a small cell with a bed, a toilet and a table and chairs in the baggage compartment of the freighter. Once the service master had locked the cell, the key had been locked away by the Captain in his personal safe. It wasn’t brought out again until the end of the journey. A Guide wandering out among the passengers would incite a riot.

 

My cell was one of a dozen along the edge of the cargo bay near the climate controls. I’d been medicated, and had been given contact with a substitute Sentinel every day for one hour through the bars, in order to prevent withdrawal symptoms. I’d been hand fed, too drugged to feed myself, I pretty much slept the entire journey, limp as a noodle on my pallet.

 

The four travel days had been hellish, I remember being restless and ill, and a lot of moaning. Now I was here. Doing what I loved best. Teaching. Studying. In particular, studying Sentinels. Guides could not liberate Guides, Sentinels would have to do it for us. I had no illusions about what I might accomplish as an individual, or as one of a group of Guides. We would have to be content with small changes, then we’d pass the torch on to others. I turned his focus back to the men watching me like the human hawks they were, vibrating with awareness of my changing mood and attention. I let awareness of them wash over me.

 

Guardians hummed. Standard Sentinels did not. That was the best way I can describe it. They let off a low continuos hum, a silent thrill that I was continually aware of, each hum a little different, unique, some harmonious, some discordant. The hum changing when they interacted, overlapped. Every man was identifiable to me, not necessarily by name, but by the individuality of their hum-signatures. It was as if their hums sank into my bones into the very fiber of my being. I thought of it in the same spirit as I did sight identification. Most humans are sight dominant. We identify each other by sight. In this instance a sixth sense was dominant, and using it, I could just as accurately identify individual Guardians.

 

I’d figured out a while ago the harmony of the hum or the lack of it depended entirely on how compatible I was, on an empathic plane, with the individual Sentinel. Some were like a song in my veins, sweet and succulent, calling to me, others made my skin want to crawl off my body. Incredibly in the last few months I had discovered I could accurately predict the likelihood of a Guide-Sentinel Bond being successful. I could sense how the partners melded…or didn’t meld. I’d learned in the few days since my arrival here, that I was also seeing compatibility and incompatibilities between the Sentinels themselves. That was completely new to me. I had never assessed or spent much time on thinking about inter-Sentinel Bonding. Some of the combinations were inexplicably close to the patterns of a Sentinel-Guide Bond. At first I’d thought I was mistaken. Now I was sure I was not. Some of these men, Guardian Sentinels, were Bonded to each other. I just didn’t know if they knew it, or what it meant. Or if it was truly comparable to Guide/Sentinel Bonding. Did it mean the same thing? Or something very different?

 

Of course I never let the Sentinels know I could tell them apart by their signature vibrations. I was too smart to let them have one more reason to be interested in me. My Sentinel/Owner was fabulously wealthy, as was I, but not powerful enough to keep me from the Command if they wanted to study me. I did not want to be systematically dissected and quantified so they could understand how I did it. I had never heard of any other Guide or Empath who felt what I called the hum, but I also spent almost no time in the company of other Empaths, the last one I had spoken with, well that happened two years ago.

 

I kept my mouth shut about the fact that less than one day after I met the man, I could have picked my temporary Officer/Companion/Owner out of a thousand others with my eyes closed and my ears plugged, and both hands tied behind my back, just by the feeling of the man’s presence washing through my psyche and….well you get the picture. When we were not together, I could feel the man, coming towards me, or walking away. As if we shared a web and the movements of each of us was transmitted through those delicate but durable fibers.

 

The Alpha Gray Commander in question was the largest Triune-human I had ever seen, at six feet ten, not fat, no not fat at all, muscular enough that it showed through the black uniform, deadly, with deep, caramel toned skin, big hands, short, razor cut, thick mahogany brown hair and with the characteristic chilling red-black eyes, hard face and a very square jaw. He moved with a feline grace, nearly silent and unbelievably quick. His fangs were fully established, his horns long and curved around his head, tapering to razor points, marking him as an Alpha male among the Triune race, and a Triune-Sentinel. His claws were sheathed, but it was very difficult to miss the thick tendons along the dorsum of his hands, unmistakable indications of battle claws. And so much more, a member of the Command, a Guardian.

 

A Ranger. An Alpha Gray Commander, and Unbonded…that should be impossible. The Officer’s massive hand rested on my shoulder, giving me a sense of safety and stability of focus to continue the lecture. I placed my right hand behind myself at the small of my back, fingers relaxed, pale palm framed by the thin leather of the glove I wore, open in the Guide’s sign that I needed more contact. Heat from the big body moved nearer, the hum intensifying until a second hand held my own, anchoring me further, the calming presence enveloping me in a blanket of sensation as I stood on the elevated platform, that raised me high enough that the Guardian would not have to bend down to reach my hand. I curled my toes over the edge of the step I was on. Just the aura of the man was singing through my body.

 

It wouldn’t be so bad if their attention wasn’t so tightly focused on me. Every all seeing eye was on me. Measuring, evaluating, scenting me, drawing breath in through their mouths, so I knew they were actually tasting me, aware of my changing scent, and my pheromones. They all knew how much the man behind me affected me. Each and every one of them wanted to Bond with me, or wanted to bathe in the wash of me Bonding with the man behind me, that was almost as good for the really sensitive Sentinels as Bonding themselves. Every eye in the room had darkened with interest. I struggled to get back on topic. If I could remember what the topic was…

 

All of these men, or at least those I could see, were Unbonded. That was what was scaring me, while at the same time exciting me. They had no permanent outlet here for their growing hungers. I’d never been so near to so many Unbonded Guardians. What Guide had? Especially when I was the only Empath. I swallowed, unable to dismiss the vision of them eating me alive. Why were they all Unbonded? Why? I needed to concentrate, keep the flow going. Gotta get some words out…

 

"The Andoorian Empaths are also different in that, given their culture, and the fact all their Empaths are male, they are completely heterosexual according to all reports. All Andoorian Bonds are sexually enhanced. In Commonwealth Harems it is not uncommon for the resident Guides to engage in female or male homosexual connections as there is not always sexual contact between Sentinel and Guide. There is no recorded instance of a homosexual male relationship being noted or observed or mentioned or even hinted at on Andoor. And that data was gathered over at least sixty years by a group of observers who are, you may take my word for it, unusually tenacious. They saw no evidence of male homosexuality. The males are sexually passive. The females are sexually the aggressors, period. That holds true even for the males trained for war. They have never been observed instigating sexual relations."

 

"There are instances of female homosexual relationships and conquests between female Sentinels and Mundane females. These relationships are full of dominance displays. Inquiries into the possibility of male homosexuality among the Andoorian males by researchers was taken as a joke by all the females questioned. They weren’t exactly offended, they simply didn’t view that situation as possible. The males were obviously stunned by the question, as if they had never even thought of such occurrences." I faltered to a stop as a powerful, in-charge voice carried up to me from a man sitting off to my left, a man in the dress uniform of the Rangers. I was still not back in control. I looked at him with more heat in my gaze than there should have been.

 

"Professor Khan, could this be a result of no opportunity to form such relationships rather than a lack of ability to form these relationships? Or an aversion to them?" The man asking was a Alpha Dark Commander, with seven stars on the breast of his uniform. He was nearing middle years, and he was in superb condition. Field ready, not a desk officer. "Are they incapable of male to male contact?"

 

"It might be either. It is impossible to know. As property, the males do not have the right to form any sexual relationships outside of those their Owners chose for them. Much as the Empaths here do not choose except for Sentinel sanctioned casual relations with some Harem-mates, or littermates. The difference with the Commonwealth being that while Guardians are typically male, Sentinels here can be of either gender. It has been proposed by an anthropology team studying the Andoorians that the reason for the absence of male homosexuality, is partially because the males are so passive sexually. That two males for example, simply wouldn’t have the drive necessary to complete a sexual act. Or that it is physiologically impossible for the males to arouse each other. I cannot speak to the truth or falsehood of those perceptions." I had gone through every theory proposed by the scholars. And no one theory seemed better than the others given the observed data.

 

"But the lack of homosexual activity between the males certainly is not because of revulsion, at least not when it comes to bodily contact. Andoorian males are much like other Empaths in that they need touch, and crave contact. They touch each other, bathe each other, groom each other, and for want of a better term, cuddle each other. Severe discipline of Commonwealth Guides often involves isolation. This has not been observed on Andoor. While standard Guides have a wide range of needs for contact, Empaths of course need intensive physical contact most of the time. Even the weaker Empaths must be kept in close contact with at least their Sentinel, or be medicated in order to tolerate a prolonged separation." I grimaced at the recent memory I had of the pleasures of medication.

 

"My own journey here, unaccompanied, meant I was medicated, sedated for four days. I was given contact with a Bonded Sentinel, too low grade to stimulate me into true Bonding, to substitute for my own Sentinel, but only for a limited time. I don’t know precisely how much contact time I would require in order not to need sedation on a journey. I have never had the opportunity to study that. My Owner does not like to travel. Without the sedation I would have experienced a psychotic-like overload of my Empathy, lost my shields, and probably become completely disassociated from reality. I would have gone mad. I would also have taken most of the Sentinels on board the ship into madness with me. That would of course depend on no one Sentinel coming to find me if my shields were down and forcing a fuller Bond. If I formed a Bond with a Sentinel of equal power to my own, I would not have any risk of madness. It is also a possibility that if madness caused a loss of my shields I would provoke a Bonding frenzy, and would be killed in the subsequent melee." I noticed the attention I was receiving from the group was suddenly even more focused. This was information they wanted, and thought they would need. Hmmm. One more clue.

 

"I would welcome the opportunity to discuss the strengths and frailties of Guides and Empaths, Sentinels of all grades and Rankings, and the Bond itself, but for now I’ll try to stay on the subject of Andoorians." I took a moment to gather my thoughts, moving my hand within the large comforting grip of the Sentinel behind me. I was very tempted to lean back into him, to feel his length pressed along my back, or even to turn into his embrace. I felt more than a little guilt. I was already Bonded, I should not be desiring another Sentinel so deeply. my Owner would not be pleased. I could not keep him after all, he was just a temporary partner until I returned home. So I didn’t give in. Just thought about it. And wanted to with an ache that tore through my whole being.

 

"Like Commonwealth Empaths, the Andoorian Empaths strongly prefer to sleep in groups when not with their Owners. Contact with the Owner is preferred over contact with other Guides, it is more than a psychological need, it is a physiologic need. And instinct driven. Similar to the need for shelter, food, water, that kind of thing. Fear of the Owner does not eliminate this physiologic need, nor is it an effective deterrent. Even abused Guides will often chose to sleep with their abuser rather than with another Guide, even if safety is at issue. The Andoorian males have no aversion to contact with other males. They are observed to be very affectionate with each other and to develop intense friendships among their Harems."

 

"Now onto one of the more controversial of my tenets. Bear with me on this, please. It is not often verbalized, and typically is vehemently denied, but Guides crave contact with other Sentinels, above and beyond the one who Bonds them. After all, we, Guides I mean, easily surface Bond with Sentinels of many levels, not just when our Owners decide it is a good or necessary thing. I have always been amazed by the persistent claim that a Guide can only Bond when his/her Owner tells him/her they must. It’s not true. And it is amazingly naive. Just wishful thinking on the part of the Owner. Bonding is a physiologic process as well as an emotional one. There are actual biochemical changes that are triggered in both the Sentinel and the Guide in response to being near one another. It is the true reason behind sequestering most Guides in Harems in the Commonwealth societies. Again this is my opinion, not that of most of the experts. As you can guess, this is not a popular view point to hold, and the wealth of undeniable information supporting it is usually suppressed. But it is well known in the Pens and Pounds where Guides are raised and trained. Guides are taught to subvert the need, the desire for contact with more than one Sentinel. Aversion therapy can be very effective." I almost raised my hand to my face, I almost let myself go back to that day…. The Dark Commander’s voice pulled me back to here and now.

 

"So a homosexual Bond could theoretically be formed with an Andoorian male, if the other male was the sexual aggressor?" The Full Alpha Dark Commander Michaels pursued, eyes bright with interest. His dark brown hands rested on the arms of his chair, long fingered and articulate. Nice hands.

 

"Yes, it might be possible. If you decided to include sex as a part of the Bond. In fact I think it would likely be successful. Sex is very powerful, an almost guarantee that the Bonding will hold. The Andoorians seem, in my view, to react to the dominance of their partner, not the gender. The Andoorians respond positively to the extra intensity a sexual Bonding adds to a true Bond. I am not the only one with this take on the data, but we are a minority. Most of us who do agree with this point of view are, not coincidentally, Empath level Guides, but there are only six of us who are allowed to study the phenomenon, and thousands of the others, who disagree with our views. I may be incorrect but I do think we have an insight into the subject the other researchers do not have. I do believe the more dominating, more aggressive their partner the more sexually responsive the males are. So I believe that with a sexually aggressive male partner of another race, it is very likely the male Andoorian will respond equally as well as they do with a sexually aggressive female partner of their own race. A theory, as yet unproved."

 

"It also should be noted, that a Bond can be formed without resorting to sex to tighten the Bond. So using sex in the Bond is purely a matter of choice, on the part of the Sentinel, since the Guide is not consulted. It will bind tighter, it will even form permanent Bonds between Sentinels and Guides who are poorly Matched. It can Bond those who in my opinion should not be Bonded. I believe, it is much better to closely and accurately rate Guides and Sentinels, and then Match them accordingly. If sex occurs between a Matched pair it should be a natural outcome of attraction, not a calculated move to enforce Bonding." I took a deep breath. So far no one was jumping up to tell me to keep silent, to keep a civil tongue in my head. No one had yet called what I was saying heresy. Just wait, I had more in store for these Warrior/Guardians. Much of it difficult to swallow.

 

"And what would happen if a true Bond was enhanced with sex?" The ADC asked, cutting into the silence.

 

I paused for a moments consideration of my next words. I decided they needed to be said, the men around me now needed to hear them, I had prepped them well up to this point. I gripped the big hand that surrounded my own and plunged on. The hand on my shoulder squeezed gently, thumb brushing my neck at the edge of my headscarf, underneath the hem of the veil, skirting the edge of my collar. I shivered, unable to hold back a gasp at the touch.

 

The AGC behind me stepped up even closer, his body a welcome heat all along the back of my body. I had no time to wonder why his nearness did not panic me. I actually was welcoming the increasing invasions into my personal space by this man, I was alert enough to realize it. But it shouldn’t have been happening this easily, this painlessly. I also found my usual discomfort with anyone coming near my veil and scarf was not in evidence. No one here had seen my face or my hair uncovered, for a pretty good reason. The Alpha Gray Commander had seen my partially clothed body, but not beneath the scarf and veil, I had slept with them on, like I did at home in Lady Jana’s Harem. I was too self-conscious to take them off.

 

"Such a Bond is almost too powerful. There would be no breaking the Bond no matter what the need. Breaking it would result in death for the partners. Both partners. Because of that I’d have to say, I would not recommend that well matched pairs Bond using sex. The costs and consequences…would be dire." I let that sink in for a moment. All the faces I could see were serious, grim, and strangely determined. Oh, Ghods. This was part of what they intended to do, to use my information to do. They were going to use sex to bind Empaths in a True Bond.

 

"The costs? What about the benefits? There are certainly powerful benefits to that kind of bonding." The ADC persisted, gentling his voice in deference to the upset he sensed running through me.

 

"Benefits? If your goal is to absolutely lock the pair together against all possibility of surviving the death of either. Or to force them to stay together no matter what, including extreme incompatibility. To addict them to each other past all reason. Sex *will* become an addcition for both partners. Yes. Those kind of benefits." I rubbed my eyes tiredly. Officer Chada moved up against me. I felt his heat, like a furnace on a too cold night. It was blissful, protective, warm.

 

"I’m sorry, Sir. I just…"

 

"You just realized part of what our intentions are. We are going to use the knowledge you are providing to do something you disagree with. Strongly I might add. I can’t alleviate your fear on that point. We are going to do what you fear. But we are going to use it to cement partnerships between Guides and Sentinels, not perpetuate master/slave relationships. Relationships like that are barely functional, and can not be utilized effectively. We want the strongest, most functional groupings. We want to tap the full potential of the Empath/Guardian joining. We want to see that it is all it can be." The wards were calm, ringing strongly of belief and truth. ADC Michaels believed what he was saying, what he was planning on doing.

 

"I want to believe you, that you mean no harm, but it is so hard to trust any one after the history we share." I murmured, I wanted to cry. Chada slipped a thick arm around me, and I almost reached up to snake an arm around his neck. I held back only at the last instant. I took another deep breath. "You see, good intentions are not protective. Bad things can and do happen even when the participants have the best of intentions. Toying with the Guide/Sentinel Bond is dangerous. Making it too powerful is a death sentence. It can’t be avoided. Guides are kidnapped every day. If a Guide who was Bonded like we are describing, is kidnapped from his Sentinel, then poof, you have lost two, simply because of the power of the Bond. It is it’s own greatest weakness."

 

"I can appreciate what you are telling us, Professor Kim, it is however a risk we have to take. And there are some precautions we plan on taking." The ADC did feel actual regret, I sensed it clearly. But he was still going ahead with his orders, his project. I struggled to get back on track. I refused to debate with myself on whether or not to supply false information. Doing that would only get more people killed. And their deaths could be laid at my door if I lied and put them in danger.

 

"Empath/Guide sexuality is rarely considered as a factor in the forming of Bonds in most of the Commonwealth societies, and it is not included in the list of criteria to use in selection of a Guide, so I find myself curious as to why it is being discussed in relation to Andoorian Empaths. I definitely do not mean to imply I disapprove the inclusion of Guide preference in the criteria, I am just not used to hearing it discussed. It goes without saying I think that to forget the Guide in a Guide/Sentinel Match is a mistake. That being said, I feel the Bond should stand alone, without sex. It is healthier for sex to be sought outside of the Bond. It preserves the freedom of choice for both partners. Within a True Bond the choice would not exist after the firm sexual intercourse, the partners would *have* to have sex with each other or die." I gave in again, leaning back, letting the warmth of the big AGC sink into me, seeping through my robes. It was good, so good. I barely managed to hold back a moan of satisfaction and relief.

 

"I am an Empath, my Sentinel Owner is female, but even if I were more attracted to males, or unattracted to her, I would be expected to cooperate in forming the Bond to my female Owner, and it would be up to her if that included sex as a method for deepening the Bond or not. To refuse is actually a criminal offense on the part of the Guide. In my case, given the discrepancy between my Rating level and hers, we were compelled to use sex in the Bond in order for a binding Bond to be formed. Orgasm opens Guide pathways and results in a temporary breach in the Guide’s shielding. A weaker Sentinel is then able to lock the Bonding. To fully Imprint. From the time my Owner and I Bonded when I was twelve to the time she decided to add a sexual Bond when I was fifteen, we had no less than sixty Bonding crises. After we sexually Bonded there have been less than one dozen crises over a period of seven years." I admitted this for the first time to an audience of strangers. My Vet specialist knew, she’d been called often enough, but no one else outside of my Owner’s household knew until now.

 

"Perversely it is also a crime if I refuse to have sex if any Sentinel requests it of me. It is not a very widely known law. I do not have the right of refusal, because I am a Guide. I am not considered competent to consent or to decline, that is the responsibility of my Sentinel. My Owner holds my virtue, and my right of refusal. If she does not refuse on my behalf, then I am required by law to submit to the will of the Sentinel." I shook my head at the startled expressions on the faces of the Guardians around me. Then I plunged on while they were still stunned by that tidbit.

 

"With a Bond partner of equal Rating it is likely sex would not need to be a part of the Bond at all, and that the Bond would have sufficient strength to last, perhaps without any crises at all. Empath sexuality seems to be considered unimportant in general, sir, except as a means to bind the Guide to the Sentinel, but sex can be utilized to force weak Bonds, or cement true Bonds into an extreme Bond. Not as a matter of Guide sexual preference. Is there a special reason it is important in relation to the Andoorians when it is not considered important in relation to other Empaths? And I must admit I am curious, why exactly am I here? I am not the foremost authority on Andoor. Nor on homosexuality, nor on Guide Empaths and sex. Or even on Guide/Sentinel Bonds. I am against using sex to force a Bond. My views have been considered radical by many, criminal by some. Besides, the Andoorians have never been known to sell any Empath to an offworlder. So, for those reasons, the questions would seem on the surface to be an intellectual exercise, nothing more." I looked from face to face. What would it be like to be a Sentinel? One of the elite. Would I have been as cold as so many Sentinels were if I took a Guide for my own?

 

"But you are growing convinced this circumstance has changed in some way, relating to the Andoorian portion of your question?" The Dark Guardian actually wore a smile, and not an entirely predatory one. So I took a deep breath and chanced an honest answer, jumping in with both feet, praying I wasn’t making a grave error, rather than offering an apology for being so forward.

 

"Yes, I am." I told the man. "I am actually convinced that you have managed to secure one or perhaps more Andoorian Empaths." I replied. "It is the only explanation I can think of that fits all the facts I have managed to garner from the questions of the last few days. But it still doesn’t answer my question as to why you are asking me these questions rather than someone who knows more…" I was interrupted then, by a gentle laugh and a smile.

 

"Bravo, you are as intelligent and clever as I have heard. And you are entirely correct. There are others who are more specialized in parts of this knowledge, however you are the only Empath level Guide who is remotely qualified. I have it on good authority that you are the one best suited to be here speaking on this now. You do believe in the equal Rating of Guides and Sentinels in order to make good Matches. You do understand the role of sex in intensifying Bonds. You are protective of the Rights of the Guides, and while you are gentle in your statements, you are adamant about protecting other Guides, and telling the truth. You do speak out, but in such a way as not to antagonize more than absolutely necessary. Those are important characteristics we want for anyone working in this Project. It is very important that as few people as possible know about the Project. I could go on for a while listing the qualifications that suit you particularly to work with us on this, but suffice to say after careful consideration, you are it, you are our number one choice. You possess enough knowledge on the subject of Bond formation we hope you will be able to aid us in forming the strongest, most durable Bonds with the Andoorians we have obtained. Yet, you are not rigid in your thinking, and we need someone who can think outside the box and come up with viable alternative solutions. Because we anticipate not every thing will go perfectly, that would be far too much good luck to count on. And since every one of the Andoorians is powerful…it is best to be prepared for as many eventualities as we can." He grinned this time. He was enjoying this, the challenge, the excitement. He was clearly in his element. I shuddered. This was going to be the straw that broke the camel’s back. My Owner was going to go ballistic. I was never going to be allowed out again. Fuck. The ADC continued his explanation.

 

"We have, through the efforts of one of our Officers, traded genetic material from our Guardians for fifty warrior trained Andoorian Empaths. It is important enough to the General Command that this operation succeed, that your Owner has been generously compensated for your Ownership, and you now belong to us, to the Command. We are now in possession of your pedigree papers and you are deeded to the Command. That was also a prime reason we sought you out. The inequality of your Bond to your former Sentinel meant it was easily severed. She experienced no pain, no physical complications, and with AGC Chada near you, you did not even feel the separation when it occurred." The man’s face was triumphant. He’d enjoyed the challenge of separating me from my Owner without my knowledge. I had to admit I was impressed. And anxious. I took a deep breath, willing myself to calm.

 

"You are far more clever and tenacious than I anticipated, Empath Kim. Those are characteristics we need. I also happen to agree with your earlier point, that Empaths of your Ranking are wasted on standard Sentinels. Your Owner was able to see the wisdom of that argument for a fee. She didn’t deserve you." The Alpha Dark Commander growled, his disgust plain. "Standard Sentinels have an inability to comprehend the true nature of the Sacred Bond. Guardian and Empath Bonds are not transitory, they are Lifebonds. They should not be routinely broken at the whim of a bored aristocrat seeking a pretty diversion. Society has allowed what should be a cherished benefit, to become a toy, a plaything in the hands of uneducated wealthy Sentinels. Having a Guide has been perverted into a status symbol. There have been an increasing number of Mundanes who purchase Basic Guides and use them, pretending they are Sentinels. It is an outrage that our governments haven’t stopped the practice." There were murmurs of agreement throughout the room almost a collective growl.

 

I blinked, my mind spinning, feeling as if I had been doused in ice water. The Bond with Lady Jana had been broken, and I had not felt the tiniest ripple of it happening. How was that possible? Unless the nightmare of last night had somehow been triggered by it. The arm of the huge Guardian, Bey Chada, who was standing behind me slid around my waist as I felt my knees sag, turning to water, incapable of supporting me. No wonder I was lusting after the Officer. The big man lifted me, my feet dangling high off the ground, away from the podium, effortlessly. My long robes hid my bare feet.

 

The unusual familiarity the man, Officer Chada, had offered me was now explained. It had puzzled me more than a little, but I had been distracted by the excitement of being here in the Command Central. Along with my wholly uncharacteristic behavior of allowing him to do it. If I hadn’t been so worked up about the chance to do this seminar I’d have spent more time worrying about the action and my reaction to it, noticed it sooner.

 

Normally the contact offered to a Guide by a non-Owner was limited to the minimum necessary for the Guide to maintain functioning. Last night I had been shocked, but grateful, to feel the big body of my temporary Sentinel slide in next to mine when I woke, shaking despite my warm sleeping robes. I vaguely recalled I’d had some sort of restless nightmare, now I knew the severing of the Bond with Lady Jana had likely been the cause, and then hearing comforting words and feeling protected, I’d drifted off to sleep again. I woke to the embrace of the sleeping giant, my own scarved head laying in the hollow between one huge shoulder and a very muscular chest, my bare toes brushing the Guardian’s calves. I’d been wonderfully warm and content.

 

I had only had one Owner, Lady Jana. She had allowed me more freedom than most considering her family’s hyper-conservative bent. As a Guide I could not attend public school once my condition became known. I’d been allowed private tutoring with a few littermates, and at fifteen attained my first degree in Outlander Cultures, then in Cryptoanthropology and finally Cryptolinguistics by my eighteenth year. All in all the learning she’d allowed me kept me sane through the repeated Bonding crises.

 

I was now, at twenty-two, a traveling lecturer in all of the subjects, plus a few more, and my unusual brilliance, as I’d often been told, caused me to be highly sought after, as well as the controversial nature of some of my views. Many people found it exciting to hear me talk of such impossible theories, blatantly challenging the accepted position of the authorities. Despite insisting I adhere to all of the most rigid and traditional trappings of being a Bonded Guide, Lady Jana was not restrictive when it came to my traveling.


	2. Part 2

I was now, at twenty-two, a traveling lecturer in all of the subjects, plus a few more, and my unusual brilliance, as I’d often been told, caused me to be highly sought after, as well as the controversial nature of some of my views. Many people found it exciting to hear me talk of such impossible theories, blatantly challenging the accepted position of the authorities. Despite insisting I adhere to all of the most rigid and traditional trappings of being a Bonded Guide, Lady Jana was not restrictive when it came to my traveling. She did pay careful attention to the contracts for my use and care, but otherwise permitted me to lecture and to study at different universities during the year. My acclaim of course reflected positively on her, and she won kudos for allowing her Guide such freedom from the groups lobbying for change. If only they knew!

 

She had been an ideal Owner for me. I had more or less willingly put the loss of my Ranking to Level 22 on the Ferrini scale as the price I had to pay for the academic career I’d been allowed. We had never spoken of the possibility I would not remain with her all of my life, one of several Guides she was bound to, though I was the only one who was more than a Basic. Now I had been sold. She had sold me. Like she was buying a new flyer. Trade in the old model. It was almost more than I could comprehend. I battled for control of my emotions. I had no idea what to do now. I had been with her almost half of my life. My new Owner seemed in tune with my struggle, rubbing soothing circles on my roiling stomach, holding me tightly, pressed to his big body. I shivered with each circular stroke. My entire body shivered with need to Bond. Ghods what was going to happen now?

 

I caved in to the fear and the need. Twisting in the Officer’s arms, I wrapped myself around the man, my arms reaching up and up, twining around his strong neck, eyes begging as I looked up into the fearsome dark blood-red of his eyes. I was not refused. Officer Chada lifted me, letting me wrap my legs part way around his lean waist, hampered slightly by the long skirts of my robes. I distantly tried to recall the last time I’d broken down like this, trembling. Needing to be comforted. It had been a very, very long time. my memory offered no help, as far as I remembered I’d never done this, felt like this, dashed, destroyed, bereft. In need. Burning. I ducked my head to rest hidden against Chada’s broad, solid shoulder. Crap, I was shaking, I was seriously out of control. I knew it. But I couldn’t seem to get it back.

 

No one was laughing. But then, they were all Guardians, very aware of the specialized "Way of the Guardians", of how Empath level Guides needed to be handled, trained and valued. Few standard Sentinels were ever educated beyond the fundamentals of "Way of the Sentinel". And that made perfect sense, without the astronomically enhanced senses of the Guardian level, the standard Sentinel could not employ many of the advanced techniques described in the Guardian’s specialized manual. While the Guardians present weren’t going to entertain the thought of intimately embracing each other in public, they saw nothing abnormal with embracing an Empath of either sex as fully as the Empath needed to be embraced, up to and including a full Bonding, or even public sex. That was just something that was accepted when Guardians allied with Empaths. The need of the Empath to Bond was paramount to all else save a life or death situation.

 

Large hands stroked my back and one moved under my robes, to my bare skin, supporting my hips so I could hold on to the man who was comforting me. I had never had a full Bonding with anyone but Lady Jana. I wanted to Bond now, but I couldn’t face having the Bond happen in front of all these men, even if the Bonding did not include sexual contact, I wanted fiercely to keep their too acute eyes from my flesh, my skin, my body. If we Bonded now, in this room every one of the men would experience it with us. But it was not possible for me to voice a request, or a demand for privacy, the words were stuck firmly in my throat, refusing to come out. I had no idea how the man would react if I did manage to voice my request, I could only hope this particular Sentinel preferred privacy. I tried to beg him with my eyes, but found I couldn’t meet his eyes. Not when he held me like this.

 

I burrowed closer to the man holding me, hiding my face against the Officer’s shoulder and neck, turning away from all the eyes on me, I felt them like heat on my back, my need spiraling higher in my confusion, bordering on desperation. If I had been with Lady Jana there would have been absolutely no conflict, I would have asked for a full Bonding immediately, whispered my need to her. And left it up to the Lady as to the amount of privacy required, I knew she always preferred seclusion, and I had allowed myself to become complacent, used to it. Now suddenly everything was different, I had no choice, I didn’t know this man, I didn’t know what he’d do if I asked him for Bonding. I could almost imagine how Lady Jana would pull out my Bonding cloth, cover my head and face, so I never had to look in her eyes when she took me, and Bond with me, giving me at least the illusion of privacy. I knew next to nothing about Chada and how he would handle it. If this one wished to Bond me nude in the middle of a market place at high noon, then I would have to obey.

 

I struggled to maintain my faltering shields. My degree of upset fighting with my control, so my shields wavered. My emotions leaked out into the room. I heard men rising to their feet behind me. A collective groan rose in the room, and I sensed the men in the room moving enmass, as the Guardians in the room felt the burning heat of an Empath level Guide in need of Bond, and I tried to force my mind back to my shields, I had to maintain them. Being swarmed by Guardians in a Bonding frenzy would kill me, and more than a few of them as well. Oh Ghods, I couldn’t get my shields back up.

 

I felt hands on me, and I barely held back a scream, recognized the hands of Chada, the ADC Officer Michaels who smelled of the spicy tobacco known as chal, and others. They stroked me, explored me. Not tearing at me, but strangely, crazily gentle. Then new shields enveloped me, Chada’s fearsome shields cloaked me, concealed my fearsome need from the other men in the room. The Alpha Dark’s hands fell away from my waist, his body moving back from me, the other hands slid from my back, and only Chada held me. Need that could be read as an invitation tore through me,…becoming a compulsion…a demand to claim me, a demand I surrender. I begged the powers that be that only Chada feel my need calling to him. my body fell in with the conditioning of a lifetime and I went limp, relaxing, signaling my submission to the man holding me, baring my neck, still beneath the edge of my veil, to Chada, my legs opening wider, wrapping more securely around him, my hands fisted in his uniform jacket.

 

"Your pardon, I need to Bond with him." The deep, smooth voice of my new Owner barely penetrated my roiling, confused consciousness. I saw that all the other Guardians had fallen back, except one who now faced the crowd as if protecting Chada and me from further intrusion. All that was holding me from a full blown panic attack was the sensation of Chada’s arms encircling me, of the Officer’s strong shields cloaking me. My own shields were impossibly shattered, far beyond anything I had experienced before. Dimly I thought that this was what it was like to Bond to a Guardian, the power was stunning, the force of him….I watched my own hands, patting and stroking then grabbing at the Triune, then repeating the pattern all over again. I could not concentrate on the strange behavior of the Sentinel Guardian that appeared to be protecting Chada. This one was like…I shook my head,….later, I would figure it out later.

 

I never struggled as my robes were parted, the skirt parted, and my bare chest made contact with the incredibly broad chest of Chada as he opened the front of his own uniform, I couldn’t even recall the man’s given name now, I felt him checking me, touching me, hands running over me to assess the state I was in, before beginning to slide our bodies together, his mind reaching out to me. I threw back my head and sobbed as the size of the man and what he was about to do, here and now, in this room full of Guardians, became apparent. He was going to penetrate me, have sex here in front of all of them. And I could not stop it. In fact the vast majority of my functioning brain wanted to have it happen, who cared where? There was just a small niggling portion that was screaming no. I didn’t want to have sex in a room full of Sentinels.

 

I could do nothing about my loss of control, I knew I was in Bonding Heat, with no way to eliminate it short of Bonding. ‘Too intense, too much. Not here, not like this,’ I prayed, even as I clutched at the man cradling me. The Lady had never invaded my mind like this, her power was much less, nothing like the man who was trying to possess me now. I cried out, both hands fisted tight in the sides of Chada’s uniform jacket, as pain rippled through my lower body, growing from a cramp into a sharp pain. I gasped, this was going to hurt, bad. I was going to be injured. My body arched both away from the pain, and into the body whose Hunger called me. I had absolutely no control left.

 

I knew I was releasing pheromones. Pumping them out into the air, I was unquestionably in Heat. For the first time since I was twelve years old I was Unbonded. My body and mind hated that state, revolted against it, my entire being demanded that the state be rectified immediately. I must be Claimed, Taken and Marked and Owned. I could not tolerate anything less. I cried out again, unable to put words to my need. Chada pressed my face into the bare swell of his large chest. I was confused, when had his uniform come off? The second Guardian let out a fearsome growl, as the room once again filled with men surging forward, called by the alluring, impossible to resist scent of a Guide in Heat. I let my head fall back, baring my throat, I heard myself begging over and over.

 

"Please, please, please…" Another first, I never begged, not like this. I asked, requested, discussed. I did not beg, not with the sound of desperation so unmistakable in my voice. Hands tightened on my waist, too tight, hurting for an instant before they gentled again, soothing me, petting me.

 

"Shit. You have never been touched by a Guardian? You are virgin to one of us? And virgin to men?" The deep voice asked, rougher, barely enough to notice, as Chada lifted me away a tiny fraction, lessening the skin to skin contact of our bodies, the terrible pressure in my perineum stopping. And somehow I managed to nod. Even as I clutched him trying to get back to that closeness.

 

The Officer closed my robes, turning back to face the assembled Guardians, his own still bare chest gleaming bronze, as I stared at it from beneath damp, black lashes, seeing my own pale hand on the smooth skin, helpless to withdraw the touch. Tears were leaking out of the corners of my eyes, making lazy tracks down my face. Chada extended one hand outward, a clawed and threatening hand, a message to the others to stay back. I saw as clearly as I was able with moisture blurring my vision, that the other Guardian Sentinel standing watch was also clawed but not Triune, something else…Quan-human perhaps…as he held back the throng.

 

The ADC Michaels shook his head as if coming out of a daze, swore, low and rumbling. "Block scent." He ordered harshly, his tone slicing through the haze my pheromones were creating. "I want scent on zero, gentlemen, now." The barked command was obeyed instantly. And the predatory, threatening stance of the Guardians diminished. Several blinked as if coming out of a daze.

 

"Your pardon, Sirs," Officer Chada said again to the group, and especially to the ADC Michaels. "He is virgin to this kind of Bonding, I will have to take him to our quarters. To do this quickly here, there would be little benefit and he might be seriously injured." The big man’s hands stroked my back through the thick silk of my robes. His voice was dipping into lower and lower registers, calling up a hormonal response in my body. I shivered against him.

 

"Very well, Chada, but have him back here for a morning briefing. Be careful, we cannot afford down time for him to recover. There are more questions that need answering. Never would have let the young one know about the sale this way if I’d known his reaction would be so extreme. He has been among Guardians before, I never realized he had no mind contact with us during those times. They are so delicate, these Empaths, even the strongest ones. Can’t change that now. Everyone be back here by 0600. Dismissed. You, d’Ahn, Pycean, go with them."

 

The second Guardian nodded. A third Guardian, Sentinel tall, and bright golden blond stepped from behind us, sparing me one look, intense and speculative, before leading the way into the hall. The man I had been able to see, the one called d’Ahn, followed Pycean and Chada from the room. Chada dragged my robes tighter around me, making sure they were entirely closed, concealing me from anyone we might meet in the halls. I was in a swoon as I was carried swiftly through the halls.

 

Somehow we were in the rooms Chada and I had shared since my arrival, I did not remember the trip through the halls. My nerves were screaming with my need to Bond. It was all I could think of. I rubbed myself urgently along the body of the man carrying me, working my hands into the opening of the jacket of the Officer, peeling the edges apart, knowing my lack of control could be interpreted as a request for sexual Bonding, but I did not care, I could not stop it, I clutched at the Sentinel, my hands looking so small, pulling at the collar of the Guardian uniform as I tried to climb his body while wriggling out of my clothes. And as far as my clothes went I was getting exactly no where.

 

The Guardian d’Ahn dialed the privacy lock on the door I heard it snicking shut, and shivered. But he and the other, the one called Pycean, were in the suite, too. I frowned, trying to think of an explanation for that. But it all faded when Chada’s hand squeezed the back of my neck. His face moved close and he licked at the remaining tears that had run down my face to wet my chest and throat. My back arched, my will melting, conditioning coming to the forefront as I surrendered my body to my Owner.

 

The body I touched felt so strange, so male, hard and powerful, too, too big, frighteningly so, so unlike the other bodies, all female, I had been this close to, Lady Jana’s, and the females she had bred me to. AGC Bey Chada, I reminded myself, proudly when I had an instant of clarity, suddenly recalling the man’s given name, my new Owner’s name. I struggled to get down, to bow, to kneel, to show proper respect in recognition of the man’s status in a frenzy I had never felt with Lady Jana, but I was held firmly in a grip I could never hope to break, even gentle as it was, careful not to hurt me.

 

The Guardian carrying me outweighed me by more than a hundred pounds of pure military trained muscle. The second Guardian was not much smaller, he took care of sealing the suite’s door against intrusion. The third Guardian, he of the golden hair, was actually the largest of the three. Striding to the bed, he ripped the coverings off. Interrupting a Sentinel, especially a Guardian at Bonding was dangerous, often fatal, hence the sealed door. But it did not explain why the three Sentinels inside the room weren’t attacking each other. They were moving in concert, cooperating, not threatening each other. Chada’s velvet voice murmured in my ear.

 

"Time for displays of respect later. Slow down, Empath, I will take care of this for you, we will Bond. There is more for you to understand, I am sorry. Try to concentrate." I nodded obediently, not sure I could listen and remember anything right now. The voice was soothing, even as I read the tremors of emotion, and visceral hunger riding the Guardian, giving me a small measure of control as I was reassured I was not going to be denied. But the fact I wasn’t going to be denied was also a reason I was still nervous, still shaking, the man’s mind had felt too powerful, as if with a mere thought I could be crushed by it. And then the promise of my body being invaded, taken sexually by a male for the first time…I was terrified, yet unable to say no….

 

I lifted my head from the comforting shoulder, I rubbed my face along his arm. I managed to focus on Officer Chada’s face. It was suddenly as if lightning leapt between us.

 

"No sex," I managed to say. It was barely a whisper, but they were all full Sentinels, they heard me.

 

"No sex," Chada confirmed as he nodded, and at last I relaxed.

 

"Please, Bond with me." I begged. Chada stared at me as I clawed at my robes.

 

**************************

 

Huge, liquid honey-golden eyes, framed by dark lashes, Ghods, a man could melt into those eyes, Chada thought. They were alight, half frightened, of what? Probably thought he was going to be fucked, whether or not he was ready for it. Now though he knew it wasn’t going to happen that way. So why be afraid? Chada had thought about it, wanted to do it, and knew he couldn’t. The Bonding had to be completely consensual, it had to be the test of the power that the four of them could have together, the maximum power, if all things went well. And that meant not raping the Empath. As fearful as the small man was it would be rape, even if he consented to it in a fit of arousal, it would still be rape. So tonight there would be no penetration.

 

**************************

 

Chada nodded at me, half hypnotized, looking deeply into my eyes, I was unsure if I had the strength to ever look away from his burning, crimson gaze, as we sat on the edge of the huge bed, him holding me in his lap.

 

The tall blond Guardian, Pycean, knelt and began unstrapping the Guide bands at my ankles, undoing the many catches, unbinding my lower legs. I was half aware of the hands moving over my legs, smoothing my skin, but mostly I was mesmerized by Chada’s gaze, I lifted my hand, fingers raised, drifting up, as if caught in a dream, to ghost over the smooth-shaven, brown cheek of the Guardian feeling the heat of him against the pads of my fingers. My breath catching in my chest, tightening with sheer awe as his hum, the psychic signature uniquely him, sank into my skin, into my very being, into my soul. My nerves sang. My Owner. It was true, I felt it, he was my Owner.

 

"Kim, Empath, cha’al," The endearment rolled off Chada’s tongue, less than a whisper, he struggled, swallowing and managing to get out the next words, with some level of control. I was trying to understand the words, I was a linguist… Uh, cha’al…no, I couldn’t remember the equivalent meaning. I had so much better things to think of. Chada was speaking low to me, trying to get me to listen. He took my face in his huge hands, running his thumbs back and forth over my skin. I sighed, moaned. Lifted my chin to him, parted my lips, waiting for him to taste me, wanting it. Kissing wasn’t sex was it? But instead he was talking.

 

"This is Officer Alpha Gray Commander Finn d’Ahn, and Officer Alpha Gray Commander Mikael Pycean. They are my Shieldbrothers, Guardian Sentinels. Listen carefully, little one. We are a Triad. I know you haven’t heard of that. It is classified, known only among the General Command staff. All the Guardians you have been lecturing are members of Triads. Tomorrow, later tonight, whenever you are coherent enough we will explain what that means. Until then know that everything we do is sanctioned, planned. We are Bonding to you, the three of us, our Triad, with you. I swear to you, we will be yours."

 

"No talking anymore." I breathed out. I licked my lips, imagining his taste. If only he would kiss me. "Please no more talking." I couldn’t think, or make decisions right now.

 

********************

 

Chada had no hesitation in how far to take the Bond, how deeply to enforce it. It was imperative it go deep, the Empath needed the deepest of Bonds, yet gentle handling, despite Kim’s compelling Heat, and the answering Hunger of the Guardians. Kim was new to this, needed to find he could trust the Officers who Bonded with him, who Owned him. He needed to be reassured he was Owned, not in the weak, ineffectual way he had been Owned by the Lady. Not bound by sex because the Bond was too weak to last otherwise. One false move, one push to hard, or the belief he was going to be rejected or shamed, and the Empath would not find that trust. Kim had to know he could release all control to his Guardian Sentinels.

 

Chada also knew sex would be a part of the Bond. But that would come later.

 

*****************************

 

As an Empath I had been satisfied with my heterosexuality. It was the only thing I’d known. Probably if my owner had been homosexual I would have been happily gay. Who knew? It was too much thinking for the state I was in now. I was going to have to abdicate all decisions on the Bond anyway, at least temporarily. I would obey my Sentinel,…Sentinels. My one hope had been no sex, and Chada had agreed. Even thinking it seemed wrong. I didn’t have any other choice. I was standing up for change in the plight of all the Guides. I could not back down. I must not allow sex to be used against me, as it had been used against me nearly half my life by the Lady who had Owned me.

 

Chada was not going to run out and find a female Officer for me to Bond with, I belonged to him, to them. And even if he had it would still be sex to bind me. I wasn’t going to willingly allow that any longer. And despite the fact there were three Sentinels in the room seeming to cooperate, I harbored no illusions about the safety of any other Sentinel that wandered in. I would be defended. It was all so confusing. Three Sentinels, all of them male. Saying we were going to Bond, all of us. I could think. And I really, really needed to think.

 

I knew this Bond was going to be radically different, these men would not want to see me breeding with others. They would possess me, Own me far beyond the Ownership of Lady Jana. They wouldn’t let me travel, not alone, they would trust no one else to see to my safety. I was here to find the best way to bind Male Empaths with Male Guardians. That much was clear by now. I wasn’t going to be gallivanting around the universe, studying, and analyzing, and collecting trivia, not with this secret in my head. Military secrets were those most likely to be kept, especially when it came to Central Command. Especially given the circumstances of the main reason I’d been brought here. To discuss the Bonding of male Andoorian Empaths to male military Guardians. Military. Top Secret. That was going to be my focus, probably for a long time. Until that was accomplished the rest of my interests were going to be shelved.

 

Alpha males. They were pretty predictable. I was going to have a shorter leash, either literally or figuratively. Though if I thought about it, three leashes on one Guide would look ridiculous. So maybe no actual leash? I hated the leash, it was demeaning, reducing a Guide to the status of a pet. Lady Jana had been an Owner, had leashed me at every opportunity when they were together in public on display, but she was not an Alpha, nor a Guardian. What would they do to mark me? And even she had had a hard time breeding me, allowing other hands and other women to touch me. These men wouldn’t be putting me to stud. If ordered they might collect my sperm, but I would not be placed in bed with anyone else. Anyone with a different idea was going to get hurt. And I was not going to agree to wearing a leash. Ever again. If they wanted me to wear a leash they were going to have to force it on me.

 

My very own number one Alpha male was laying me gently on the bed we’d shared last night. I didn’t want to let him go, my hands slid down the long arms as the Officer straightened, catching his fingers on the heavy wrist gauntlets encircling my lower forearms, placed there by Lady Jana. Chada frowned looking at the bands. The Second Sentinel, d’Ahn, came closer, released the catches on the bands, quickly removing them from my body and throwing them aside. Pycean released the last strap on the second ankle band and tossed it atop the growing pile of things with her Mark I knew I wouldn’t be wearing again, while Chada undressed. For the first time since I was twelve years old I was going to Bond unadorned.

 

I saw every millimeter of Chada’s buff arms as the man stood up, removing his jacket and shirt. Chada undressed to his silks, then bent down, removing the outer robe and hip wrap I wore, leaving me clad only in my thin undersilks from the waist down, my inner robe hiked up around my middle. Chada moved to settle on his back, lifting me to lay atop him, my legs spread, wrapped around Chada’s hips.

 

Pycean peeled off my inner robe, and then the inner shirt. I could only lay there and let it happen. Chada was erect, large, pressed to my belly, hot, and intimidatingly male, we were separated by only our silks. I waited to be rolled over under him, to be taken despite his promise, but he only ran his hands soothingly over me. D’Ahn lifted the corner of my veil, pulled it off along with the headscarf, and silence fell. I felt the immediate blush staining my cheeks while the three men stared at me. I fought not to cover my face with my hands. I fixed my own gaze on Chada’s chest, refusing to meet any of the eyes on me.

 

Then the man, my Guardian, was next to me again, spreading his huge hand wide, caressing my half naked belly, touching me there, everywhere, and the exquisite exchange of power began. My body jerked, I gasped, tossing my head back, only half sensing it when the other two Guardians joined us on the bed, and two more Guardians were pressing against me, not Bonding to me, the third, Chada, sinking hands into my thick, glossy hair, spreading it out over the pillows, running thumbs over the scars on my cheeks. I was surrounded by bliss. Golden light poured into me, filled me like amber honey filled a glass jar. So sweet, once tasted so necessary, so wanted.

 

The Bond flared between us, hot and cataclysmic. I gasped, as my Owner/Owners moved against me all three of them together, all at once, slick-sweat skin facilitating the crackling hum of energy flickering between all of us. The Sentinels were Claiming me, Marking me with sharp, stinging fangs on each shoulder, on my throat. Lapping up the flowing blood. Owning me.

 

I moaned my recognition of the Bond, going limp, giving in, surrendering completely. I barely held back the scream of fear, and wanting. This…triple Bonding had never happened before. It crushed me. I felt the empathic pathways that had been easing closed, content, suddenly tear open again, as my soul traitorously welcomed a second Sentinel, then a third. I moaned. I could not take this! My Owner was here, witnessing my shame, witnessing me surrendering to another Sentinel! He would kill me for it.

 

I sobbed aloud in fear and self-loathing. I wanted him. Them. I was the slut she had told me I was. Here now was the proof of it. No Bonding cloth shielded my face, I saw three sets of eyes, one black-red, one deep gray, one vibrant green, staring down at me in concern. I sobbed again, knowing they knew, understood I was unacceptable, soiled, unworthy. I was very aware of my thighs, widespread, around Chada’s waist, of my erection pressing against him this time. If that wasn’t an invitation what was? A rough palm cradled my face.

 

"What is it?" The one called d’Ahn asked. I felt the frisson of that voice move through my senses, my body, leaving no cell untouched. How could it be like this? How could I feel him, his Claim…and Chada’s? I was stunned, as the reality of what was happening overtook me. I could not deny it, this one Owned me as much as Chada Owned me, I was his whore as I was Chada’s, or I was his Guide. His Empath, all of theirs. Which was it? How could I tell? Tears ran down my face.

 

"Chada, this is not right," the second Officer exclaimed. And Chada nodded his agreement. "He should not be weeping." Chada held me in his arms, the Bonding Heat slipping away from us as the humiliation I felt grew. I had no understanding of why he didn’t fling me away. Why should he hold me so tenderly? Why should they be around me, why should they be nuzzling me treating me as if I was something precious? I knew that this here was my Achilles’ heel. Choice as far as sex had never been in my hands. I had been thoroughly trained to abdicate choice, had that drummed into me since forever. I had been taught to crave sex. Without it I felt I had not Bonded fully. I was smart enough to recognize it was one of the pivots of power I needed to regain if I wanted to be strong as a Guide, to re-humanize myself. Not return to being a slave to any Sentinel who said she/he Owned me, body and soul. I didn’t want these feelings, these instinct deep cravings.

 

"I know. I know. Don’t worry, Empath. You are Ours, Bonded and Claimed, as we wish it. It is our choice. It is required of all of us to do this Bonding. None of us are less because of it, we are more. This does not diminish you. You will understand soon." Pycean leaned down and whispered the soothing words, his tone soft, caressing. I turned my face towards the blond man. His green eyes were fierce, but kind.

 

Then slowly Officer Pycean ran his thumb over the crimson tattoo on my lower lip. As my Owner it was his right to touch the mark I so hated, the mark that humiliated me. I blushed again, to have this shame displayed so openly, I would have preferred to hide it forever if I could have. Pycean smiled at me, but his eyes were serious.

 

"Have you had the training to go with this mark?" He asked me, quietly. "Did your previous Owner force you to this as well?"

 

I shook my head. I had not earned the mark of the courtesan, except by my unacceptable actions. She had made me crave sex, but not with strangers, only with my Sentinel. Now here I was with three of them, and my body was confused, it waited for the sex it needed. And I was refusing to grant it that. I was an addict. I couldn’t fight it. It was stronger than I.

 

"By the Ghods." It was a faint whisper, ghostly, reverent, I lowered my face, kept my eyes locked on Chada’s bare chest as my face was further revealed, as they all examined me. Fingers lifted my chin revealing my whole face to all of them. The two slashed scars, wide and pale, from the outer corner of each eye to my chin, one on each cheek were touched, caressed. The Guardians’ eyes widened. Their hands knotted in my hair, whispering how it felt like living silk, blue-black, luxurious, I’d heard that said before, many times. They whispered it now, all of them reverence in their tones.

 

"How did this happen to you?" Bey Chada murmured. Stroking a finger down each of the symmetrical scars, his thumb trailing across my lower lip, over the red line vertically tattooed there. The mark was enticing, but it lent a false message, Chada knew that I was no sex slave even before the admission I had not taken the training. He was inside me, inside my mind, in a way the Lady Jana had never been. I bowed my head. I choked on the words that were the answer to his question. Chada knew my need.

 

"My Lady’s brother saw me one time unveiled at the bath, asked for my use. Demanded she let him have me. Said I was too beautiful for him to forget. The Lady replied it was easy to change that, that with my face cut open perhaps he would find the strength to forget his passion. She said it would keep unwanted desires from me, to have me so Marked, since I invited so many advances with my teasing glances and could not control myself. I did not mean to look, not that time, but he was the first man I had seen unclothed. She Marked me, had me Marked. To remind me of my wanton ways, and so others would know." I lowered my eyes, squeezing tight against the pain. "I am sorry I am so disfigured…so ugly, Sirs. It was the intent of my Sentinel that I would not be desirable to others."

 

"Ugly? You are not ugly. I have scars aplenty myself, and Pycean here, you will someday marvel at his many scars!" Chada told me. "She has also failed to make of you a thing any Sentinel would want to walk away from. The taste of your Empathy is too heady for any to walk away."

 

"My people view the scars as things of beauty, Empath. A thing that shows the trials you have endured. There is no shame in scars. Though I think the wrong person received them in this case." Pycean said, kneeling next to us, reaching out to pass a calming hand down my side. Chada nodded in agreement. I was fighting for calm. I hated this…uncertainty. For all my talk of Guide rights I fell back into my own well of doubts with the least little push. A Guide had the right to sexual feelings. I knew it to be true in my heart, my soul. Yet I had not the strength to assert that right. I was ashamed of my own feelings, and desires.

 

Pycean put my hand on a large patch of scar-slicked skin on his side. It was a burn, I was almost sure of it. My hand barely covered the whole thing. It was very pale and warm to the touch, and old scar then. Perhaps old enough to have occurred when he was still a child. Chada’s hand covered mine. His fingers guided mine over the dips and whorls of the scar. It was fiercely intimate, touching this scar. I looked up at Pycean, stunned.

 

"Now, we will Bond further, all three of us. We have no desire to hurt you, so you must tell us if you have pain, or are afraid, and let us take care of you. You require it. And I wish it." Chada let his mouth cover my lips and just that quickly I couldn’t breathe. I was his, no denying it, his hands stroking the bare skin along my front, my sides, all the contact Chada would allow between us these few minutes as d’Ahn turned me towards himself.

 

The embraces didn’t become sex, they held me, stroked me, explored me. Instead of fear, I felt…peace, comfort, joy. Yes, joy, fierce and satisfying.

 

I forgot about the absence of the Bonding cloth I was used to. I purred, forgetting to be passive, arching up into the touch of the darker man, the Quan-human d’Ahn. Chada had actually touched my mouth, even though it was marked! Since the day the damning mark was tattooed there, Lady Jana had refused to kiss me, letting me know I was unclean to her. And now this second Guardian, actually brushed my lips with his own as he molded our bodies together. As he held me and pressed me to himself.

 

Chada forced down his fury that the woman had marked her Empath a whore because others had desired him. Chada knew after one touch that Kim had never betrayed his loyalty to his former Owner. The young Empath was petrified, shy, inexperienced, and despite his fearsome wealth of knowledge, he was still an innocent. And the Empath was not ugly despite the unforgivable scars his Owner had sought to mar him with. He was beautiful. Ethereal. With lips like succulent pale fruit, too enticing to be bypassed.

 

It was good the Empath wore the veil before coming here. But, it was only temporary. Chada did not want a Guide who felt he had to hide. His Guide would learn to hold his head high and accept the pride and honor that was his own. The General Command had changes planned. And Chada would make sure those changes came to pass. Then he would parade his Guide before all those who belittled the Guides, showing them how wrong they had been. Showing the power these men had locked in their small bodies. Their feeling souls. Guides had never been utilized as they were meant to be. They were a power to be reckoned with, subjugated by those who feared them, reduced to property in order to exert control on them.

 

Only the most conservative kept to the veil these days. The more modern of the Guides never knew the veil. A good first step. And that was how the Command wanted their own Guides to be. Modern, useful, active participants in the New Way. But still, they would be Owned. Protected, because the desire of Sentinels for Guides would never diminish.

 

 

The Guide was washing. He stood in the glass enclosed shower rinsing the sweat from his body. Chada and the other Sentinels watched him. His body was slender, sleek, yet more muscular that they had expected. He seemed to lack the self-consciousness that they’d thought he’d have. Water sluiced down his skin, so pale as to be beyond pure white against the dark brown tiles.

 

It was almost impossible to look away. The Guide would have shivered in the warm water if he’d seen the hunger in the three faces that watched him.

 

 

 

Being out among the general populace was definitely not where I expected to be after the hours of intense lecture that day, and after my first Bonding with my new Sentinels, and the prolonged question and answer session that followed the next day. I’d had to continue answering the rapid fire questions during the lunch that was catered to us, and the dinner as well. The questions had delved into what was known fact as well as what was theory and pure guess work or my own interpretation of information. In other words what was true, what might be true, and what was pure fabrication.

 

Then there was a group of questions about the Bonding I had just taken with the three Guardians. I had to force myself to answer those. The ADC seemed angry that we had not had sex. I was grateful they had not forced themselves on me. I had been in a state of pure bliss last night. In that state they could have taken me, I would not have refused in the heat of it. But I would have regretted it later. I had not lain with a man in any way before last night.

 

Now I, Chada, and d’Ahn were walking along the wide sidewalk in the expansive "downtown" of the military city/complex. Pycean had remained behind for reasons I did not understand.

 

My mind was reeling, distantly I knew that it was good I was outside and walking instead of sitting still driving myself crazy with all the thoughts and ideas tearing through my head. I’d been told the reasons I was here, all the reasons, in detail. Of course one reason, the Andoorian question, I’d already figured out. The second no longer came as a shock, either. I was here to test if the Bond could be reliably extended to a Triad of Guardian Sentinels. I knew that one Owner could Bond to more or less successfully to more than one Empath. Due to the highly protective nature of Sentinels, that meant I was going to have to report on the Bonding despite being an active and very involved participant. Because no outside observer was going to be allowed close. Certainly not during the adjustment period right after a new Bonding. In fact I was surprised at the openness of my Sentinels tot he questions, and how they allowed the others near me.

 

ADC Michaels was planning on meeting with us, my Sentinels and I, daily to monitor the situation. He wanted to know every detail. He impressed on my how important it was that I left nothing out. We had no way of predicting how the Andoorians might react to the project. They could very well have as much trouble with accepting three sentinels as I was.

 

In other words, I was supposed to Bond to three Officer-Guardians. One Empath, to three Officers. That was the pattern. And not in the shallower Bond. The Bond was to be complete, and deep. Myself, and Alpha Officer Bey Chada, Alpha Officer Finn d’Ahn and Alpha Officer Mikael Pycean. That had been a profound shock. The very idea was almost obscene given the opposite view that had held sway in the Commonwealth for so long, My mind tried to shy away from the reality. The level of intimacy in the Bond was so intense for me I could not imagine extending it to include another person. Yet, that was exactly what had happened last afternoon. But it was not the same for the Guardians was it? They had shown no reluctance. Was it because they were trained to obey and had been ordered to do it? Or did all Owners feel less intimacy through the Bond that Guides did? After all Lady Jana had been able to sell me, and had had several more surface Bonds to weaker Guides than myself. I would never have been able to sell her. I mean I had never been in love with her, but I did love her, and wanted her to be a part of my life. Now that was behind me. I stumbled a little, lost in thought. A hand steadied me, supported me. These damn shoes, thankfully flat soled, but I was not used to wearing any at all. I couldn’t get the hang of walking quickly in them. I could hardly wait to take them off once we got inside.

 

That concept, that Guides and Sentinels felt significantly different emotions in Bond, forced me to reconsider all the assumptions I’d made about the Bond. Maybe it was even more completely different for the Empaths as compared to how it was for the Guardians than I assumed. I had never talked to a Sentinel about Bonding. Lady Jana would have thought me mad if I’d tried to have that talk with her. And if simply looking at her brother had earned me two scarred cheeks, well talking to any number of strange Sentinels about how they felt about Bonding would have earned me something far, far worse. I’d had more than enough sense not to do that.

 

When we returned to the rooms I now shared with all the men who were "my Sentinels", including the two walking beside me, I was going to ask. I had to ask, I had to understand, even if they struck me for my impertinence. But, I was starting to think they wouldn’t object to my asking. They also wanted to know as much as possible about the Bond. I wasn’t going to stay submissive, not if they needed me this badly. I could make some changes, get away with more, being outspoken, acting less like a slave. I was going to push the envelope. I was still ashamed of how emotional, how out of control I’d allowed myself to become last night. I swore it wouldn’t be like that again.

 

The run of the mill military men and women who were out on the streets were casting curious looks our way. No doubt wondering why a Guardian with an Empath would be with a second Guardian, and both of whom were clearly marked as Unbonded. They were planning on taking care of that soon, they all had uniforms being embroidered even now. If they actually wore them, maybe then I could believe what they’d told me was true. If they all wore the runes of my name plainly displayed on their uniforms, then I would cast aside my doubts. Or at least suspend them.

 

I observed the rest of the population with something bordering on desperate interest. I needed something else to distract me from the thousand questions milling through my mind. It also helped me forget I was not wearing my head scarf. I was still in robes and a veil, but I knew what they were doing. They were weaning me from my accouterments one piece at a time. Still the feeling of my hair hanging down my back was new.

 

None of the passers by were Guardians, I knew when I met a Guardian, the hum coming off of them was incredible, attractive, like catnip for a particularly susceptible feline. My awareness of the hum had grown overnight, the bond with the Triad made me even more sensitive, I was sure of it. I felt it coming off both the towering Chada and the new man, Alpha Gray Commander d’Ahn. It shivered across my awareness, and by the Ghods I admitted it drew me powerfully. If Pycean were here, I was sure I would feel it off him as well. But Pycean was doing something else somewhere else. Separation. From a recent Bond. I had expected pain, but I felt none. I wanted to be back somewhere I could see him. But I was not cramping, not in withdrawal. I hoped he was also well. Would I be able to sense if he was not?

 

I cast my mind back to the Bonding with Chada, d’Ahn, and Pycean. That had been incredible. Intense. I’d screamed more than I’d ever done with Lady Jana. In fact I’d never screamed with her. I’d given in to tremors, to writhing, to begging little whimpers, my body language as eloquently needy as my whispers, as my mental begging. And all without any of them ever initiating intercourse. Penetration. I was still a virgin to that kind of penetration, anal sex, though Pycean had used his hands on me just about everywhere else. I flushed remembering that. How could I be expected to do that or more with yet another man? With Commander d’Ahn or Chada? What if they wanted sex? Real sex? Sex meaning them inside my body? More than one of them, one after the other. Was that possible without injury?

 

"You are thinking too loudly." D’Ahn’s tenor voice interrupted my thoughts. "You’re supposed to be relaxing. And enjoying the walk." What he didn’t say was I was supposed to be getting used to my new shoe-boots, which I already was starting to loathe heartily. They were embarking on the introduction of more and more strangeness, shoes, removing my headscarf, and next perhaps my veil or outer robe. Then what? Would I be trained in battle techniques? Would they try to turn me into a fighting Empath, teach me to kill?

 

I cast a sideways glance over at the other man. Handsome, confident, full of feral grace. And that gorgeous, tantalizing, wonderful hum. My mouth was suddenly too dry. My eyes were frozen on d’Ahn’s face. I felt need building in me again. I was moving rapidly toward Heat again, newly Bonded, it was expected. But I had not known it would come on so fast, hit so hard. I let out a tiny groan, stumbling again. Pain. I had not expected pain. Why would I be feeling that?

 

"Pycean." I managed to gasp. It had to do with my missing Sentinel. He was with another Guide. I knew it with utmost certainty. What I didn’t know was if he was with them by choice or if this was an experiment. A test to measure this new Bond, evaluate it’s limits. I was mad, hurting and I wanted to run back to the room I shared, I wanted to scream at the betrayal. AGC Pycean was with another Guide and I couldn’t take it.

 

It was of course not up to me as an Empath to decide if and when the Bonding took place, or even how it took place. Not yet, but I would gain influence over it. I swore that oath to myself. I shook my head, not noticing when the man in front of me stopped walking. I bumped into the back of Commander d’Ahn, and would have fallen to my knees on the sidewalk if the man hadn’t caught me with Guardian quick reflexes. I clutched at his uniform, groaning again. It really hurt. The Bond I had with Pycean was screaming through my body. My back arched as I writhed in d’Ahn’s arms. I heard Chada’s voice, distant behind my suffering, with a note of urgency. He had his hand on his throat mic, I understood he was telling someone to stop. His voice was deep, frightening. Ringing with the need to protect the Guide.

 

 

D’Ahn was not as tall as Chada, lacking an inch or two, but, he was still very tall, and he was strong, compared to any one else he was an unbelievably big, powerful, terrifying man. A killer. And handsome, with short, black hair, golden skin, and penetrating, deep gray eyes. Another Ranger, in fact he had been Chada’s platoon partner, they were, according to the talk I had heard, inseparable when the two of them were not on different missions. The two men were completely at ease with each other. Pycean had been d’Ahn’s best friend for twenty years. They had certainly not raised any objection when the Full Commander told them of the proposal to triple Bond me. It was left to me to feel all the distress and horror and fear.

 

 

Despite the incredible experience of the Bonding I’d shared with them, I felt no closer to being comfortable with the idea of feeling lust for them. I wanted to have them touching me, standing next to me, protecting me, yes, I wanted to Bond with the Sentinels, I wanted others to know the Sentinels Owned me, but I wanted to have more say in the Bond than the Lady had given me. More than that I wanted to rest in their arms, have the right to expect their care and closeness, to be able to touch them at any moment I wished, in public and in private, and the acuity of that need startled me.

 

))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))0000000000000000000000000000000

 

But he didn’t lust after the men. Not precisely. He didn’t want sex with them. He was puzzled by that. Then he reminded himself it wasn’t his choice, he had no say in who he submitted to, the military was directing them to Bond, and how to Bond. While it had not been stated in so many words, the Command seemed to want to take the bond as deep as it could be taken.

 

His Bonded obeyed their superiors. He obeyed. If the Owners wanted him to breed, he bred. If the Owner wanted the Empath to have sex with another, the Empath would. That was all. Of course he could refuse any that his Bonded did not choose for him. No one could approach him, say on the street, and demand sex from him, or any Bonded Empath. And Unbonded Empaths were guarded like they were pure gold.

 

That night when Chada and he Bonded, Lady Jana’s Bond mark had faded from his right wrist. The tattoo, done in the Lady’s blood, was gone by the time he’d gotten up the next morning and looked at his hands while he washed. Chada had pressed his own seal into the flesh of his left palm, and gradually the mark had shown. Each time Kim looked at it when he used the restroom, it was more apparent. Extending further and further until beginning to curl around onto the back of Kim’s hand and up towards his wrist. The very size of the mark told Kim how much stronger Chada was than Lady Jana. That meant the Bond had taken. Chada’s blood, his DNA, was in Kim’s body. That was what the tattoo of a brilliant, elaborate crimson dragon on the flesh of his hand meant. It warned all others that he was Bonded. And if they could read crests they would know who he belonged to.

 

Now d’Ahn’s hands were on him, in public. Kim just managed to keep from flinching, willing himself to relax despite having hands on him that were not Chada’s. As if sensing his distress, Chada came up behind him, tucking his huge body up close to Kim. And Kim did what any Empath did when his Bonded touched him, he melted. D’Ahn stepped in until Kim was lifted and literally trapped between the two much larger men.

 

"Relax, Prof," The rich, smooth tenor voice of d’Ahn warmed the side of Kim’s face. "Just getting you used to being between us." Kim felt the blush staining his face, hot and bright red. D’Ahn’s tongue flicked out, licked his cheek through the veil, tasted him, and Kim’s eyes rolled up into his head.

 

"Please, this can’t work." Kim whispered. Then clamped his jaw shut, not believing he’d almost refused his Officer, his new Owner, his Guardian. "I…I…"

 

"It will work, little one. It has worked. Twice that we know of. You can read all the data on those events." Chada told him. Kim was waiting for the blow to fall. It never came.

 

"You aren’t going to punish me, Master?" Kim asked at last. Afraid, confused by the inconsistent behavior, the Lady had always punished him when he overstepped his boundaries. It was acceptable for him to talk with his professors, teachers and other students, even to question them, but not to question her.

 

"No, neither of us are going to hit you." Chada said, evenly. "I need you to question us, little one, how else will we learn from each other?"

 

"What do you mean it has happened before? It is impossible…" Kim stammered the words finally registering in his numbed brain.

 

"No, Empath, it is not impossible." D’Ahn told him. "It has happened. All those concerned lived, and are still Bonded."

 

"How can that be?"

 

"Each of the pairings was between Guardians who knew each other well, trusted each other enough to let contact with their Bonded Empath occur, each pair shared a blood bond. There was a stronger bond between them than mere fellow Guardians. Not a Bond, but friendship and trust, and through the blood, shared DNA. One of the men in each pairing had a new Empath, the Bond being fairly new, not rigidly set. The second Guardian was invited into the Bond in a situation that was life or death. He would have died if not for the healing force of the Bonding." D’Ahn continued.

 

"The Bond formed was true Bond. Hard and fast. Unbreakable. And the parings were far more powerful than can be explained mathematically. While Bonding an Owner with more than one Empath seems not to affect the power of the Owner, the opposite is true with the Bonds between two Guardians and one Empath. The power of all involved are much greater. It is our plan to take the Andoorian Empaths and double Bond them to Alpha Guardians. We don’t have nearly as many Empaths as we want, or need. Double Bonding them will increase the number who can be Bonded to them." Chada said, swinging Kim up into his arms. D’Ahn slipped the shoes from Kim’s feet, tucking them into his belt, then stroking his hands over the bare insteps. Kim almost moaned aloud, fighting to control his reaction, to concentrate.

 

"But first you want to prove it can be done. That the two times you know of were not freak occurrences." Kim suddenly realized they had wanted him for this from the start. His knowledge was simply an added bonus, not the main qualification. His knowledge was more of an excuse to ask for him in particular.

 

"Right." D’Ahn answered. Walking beside Chada he kept one hand on Kim’s leg under the long robe, Kim saw the tips of his bare toes peeking from beneath the hem of his Empath’s robes. Chada made no protest at the prolonged contact. Kim had never witnessed this kind of tolerance. Chada was willing to let d’Ahn touch him. Wanted d’Ahn to touch him, while he was nearby. The few times Lady Jana had bred Kim, she had had to be far away, too far to sense what Kim was doing. Owners and Guardians were genetically possessive. Incapable of sharing their Empaths. So the party line went. And it had been borne out time and again.

 

"You think it will work? You will not kill each other, kill me, when the time comes?" Kim asked fighting down the panic. He had no chance of defending himself from either of them.

 

"We will not kill each other, nor you, that will definitely not happen, little one. We are not animals. We have more control than the Owners." d’Ahn said as he slid his hand up Kim’s leg. Kim drew in a sharp breath, let out a tiny yelp. D’Ahn’s fingers were there, at his center, resting against his most intimate parts. Not Bonding, but a fraction inside him none the less, a sort of pre-Bonding. And Chada did not try to stop him or it.

 

"I bear your mark," Kim managed to gasp, "I am Bonded to you. But are you Bonded to me at all? How can you let him touch me like this?" His confusion was plain and Chada smiled.

 

"I have Bonded to you," Chada replied. "Far deeper than my previous Bonds. You are a powerful Empath, Kahn Kim. And when d’Ahn takes you after I take you, when we lie with you together and Bond with you together it will be permanent. You will bear both of our marks. There will be no breaking this Bond we are going to share. Get my drift?"

 

"But how can you share me with him if you are Bonded to me?" Kim heard the tremor in his voice and felt ashamed of his weakness. He was supposed to surrender to the needs and wants of his Owner, not try to forced his Owner to do that for him. He wanted to be wanted by Officer Chada, and no one else. He didn’t want it to be OK to share him.

 

"Because I would give my life for his, Empath. His blood is in my body, and mine in his. He is more than an acquaintance, more than a friend. Does that help you to understand? Why we think we can get this done. Make it work?" Chada’s blazing red eyes were fierce yet sincere, intent as they met Kim’s.

 

d’Ahn withdrew his fingers, Kim twitched, the long skirt hiding what had been done to him from interested eyes of the passersby. Kim had not worn pants since being discovered as an Empath at age seven. He had gone from the freedom of long pants and shorts, to a voluminous robe overnight. His body hidden while he remained Unbonded. Once he was Bonded at age sixteen, his body had been exposed as often as it pleased Lady Jana. A few had even seen him naked seated at her feet wearing only headscarf and veil. From the age of seven on, his body had not been his. It had belonged to others. Controlled by others. Unbonded, he had had a chaperone with him at all times.

 

Kim hadn’t had a childhood, not a complete one like other children around him had had. He exercised of course to stay healthy, but it was supervised by adults in constant attendance. He’d had no other friends around, it was not desirable for him to develop friendships. He was going to Bond, his Owner would be everything to him. After his initial rebellion, he had finally accepted it. He never liked it. Not until he Bonded to the Lady.

 

Kim knew he had been content with her. The emotion he’d felt had been identifiable as love. But now, darker and stronger emotions were warring inside his chest. Jealousy. Envy. Him feeling possessive of his Owner. With a low cry of despair he hid his face against Chada’s neck. He would endure this pain.

 

By this time the group of three had reached the private quarters, and Chada sat on the bed still holding Kim.

 

"Kahn, why do you cry? I am not discarding you."

 

"We are giving you a gift, one that only two other Empaths on this world have ever had." D’Ahn reached out and took the small man’s hand.

 

Kim slid out of Chada’s embrace and fell to the floor, kneeling he pressed his face to the carpeting and bowed as low as he could go. His whole body trembled.

 

"Please, I am sorry."

 

"Little one, I am sorry that you are so troubled. It must be done. You have our word it will be a true bonding, e won’t discard you. If it does not work, then you will still have me." Chada said a sudden burst of insight guiding his words. "I will not give you up, I will not sell you."

 

Kim surged upright to his knees, tears running down his face. He held out his hands desperately, unable to wait for their full bonding. Chada never hesitated. His massive hands met Kim’s palm to palm. It was the intimate touch, the Bonding, not done with others casually. Kim choked on a sob and fell forward, all his weight resting on the joining of their palms.

 

"Yes, take what you need, my Empath. You will have this whenever you need it. I will never deny you." Chada murmured feeling the draw as their minds touched floated along each others margins, and mingled.

 

 

D’Ahn lifted the small box that contained the gift he had ordered from his mother’s foundry. It was the one place that produced these things, and the cost if he had not been her son would have been in excess of thirty years of his Ranger salary. Gracefully he approached the bed where Chada and Kim lay, covered in sweat, panting, d’Ahn was in a similar state. Still he would not wait for the sweat to dry, it was too important that this was done.

 

Kneeling next to the bed, d’Ahn placed the box next to the Empath’s hand. The big eyes stared at him, glowing with the lingering wonder from the Bonding. D’Ahn rose and sat on the bed.

 

"Empath Kahn Kim. I am Officer Alpha Gray Guardian Tel d’Ahn. I was born of the Watcher’s clan. In my clan there is only one way to honor my Bonding to my Empath. I ask that you accept these, and in so doing let all other Owner’s and Guardians know that you are now and forever of my clan. My sword and my body guard your life always." D’Ahn opened the box and let the now stunned Empath look at what lay inside.

 

Kim was an anthropologist, and he had extensively studied hidden cultures. He had no trouble recognizing what lay in the box. Eight exquisite bands of finely wrought neridium glowed in the velvet lined container. He had never seen anything so beautiful. Reverently he touched them with one finger.

 

Kim raised his eyes to the other man’s, trying to speak, but finding no sound would come out. The man was his Owner, despite the exorbitant cost of the gift he could not refuse. And he did not want to refuse. The Bonding had been good. He had not been asked to surrender to sex, but the Bonding between the three of them was so much more intense than mere sex. Kim was stuck in a swirling vortex of emotion. He knew though that he would agree to any marking, any display of Ownership his Guardians wished. Shakily he held out his hand and watched as his newest Owner began placing the precious jewelry worth a moderate fortune on his body.

 

Piece by piece, d’Ahn placed the bands on his Empath. At wrists, ankles, waist, throat, and then he slipped the small, belled earrings into the lobes of the other man’s ears. Each band was belled, when Kim moved they would let out a nearly silent ringing that would be audible to all other Guardians, telling them to whom he belonged.

 

Kim looked at the bands, they were so beautiful, pale gold against his ivory skin, with tiny crimson bells carved from flawless jewels. Aside from the bands he was nude, all his concealing clothing cast off in the frenzy of Bonding. His headscarf and veil lay on top of everything else. Kim had been grateful when his scars and tattoo had not seemed to bother d’Ahn. In fact the tattoo seemed to actually arouse the second Guardian.

 

 

The next days briefing turned into a marathon of questions and exploration of the new triple Bond. In front of all the Guardians, Chada, Kim, Pycean and d’Ahn were grilled. It began even before the Quartet entered the briefing room. One by one the Guardians lifted their heads as first the most sensitive, then finally all of the men in the room heard the sound of d’Ahn’s Watcher Clan Eambrian Bells. All eyes went to Kim when he entered the room.

 

The Alpha Full Dark Commander was first to speak. "My ears tell me the Bonding was successful?" He half stated. Smiling at the three large men, and the one smaller man.

 

"Yes, Sir, it was. I was…unprepared for the degree to which it was successful." D’Ahn responded. That earned him the undivided attention of just about every guardian in the room.

 

"Was it a sexual Bonding?"

 

"No. But I doubt even a sexual Bonding could have gone deeper than this one has." Officer Chada answered. "I have been in Bonds that involved sex, but I was not as fully engaged as I am now."

 

"How so?"

 

"The triple Bond seems to unlock a new level of binding between the Empath and his Partners. He acted as a conduit between us, my power added to theirs, and their power added to mine. At the same time none of us lost any of our own power. It was almost as if in some manner the Empath recreated or duplicated power for each of us. I would like for myself, Pycean and d’Ahn to be re-tested, to assess our current levels. I am willing to bet our ratings will be substantially increased."

 

"And no doubt you would be right." The clear voice rang out in the room. Everyone turned to look at the woman entering the room. "But remember, this is still and experiment, and I will object to any increase in your ranking."

 

"Officer Carlyle, what has brought you to our private briefing?" The Full Commander was on his feet. Moving to head her off. She was coming on a collision course for the newly Bonded men.

 

"Well, I finally found someone who agreed with me, that it was wrong not to include women in this "Experiment" of yours, Commander Michaels. That is why I am here." She stalked around the edge of the room.

 

"Melanie, Officer Carlyle, the entire basis of the project is to assess the Bonding between militarily trained Empaths and Guardians. There are no female Guardians. The female Officers declined the opportunity to train as Guardians, just this last quarter." Michael’s tried to keep the fury out of his voice. "And you know I did not make the decision to include or to exclude anyone. I was selected, every Officer in this room was selected. By the General Command itself. Are you accusing them of sexual prejudice?"

 

"No. The General Command made the decision prior to having all the facts…" She flushed. She could not deny that the General Command was 80% female. "We had no idea at that time what you were planning. You kept it from us. Now we would like an opportunity to be part of this."


End file.
